Seth M. Noar, Ph.D.

1
Credibility (Chapter 4)

• Seth M. Noar, Ph.D.
• Department of Communication
• University of Kentucky

2
Credibility

• Credibility refers to judgments made by a
  perceiver (a message recipient) concerning the
  believability of a communicator.
• In other words how much we believe what someone
  is telling us (how credible we think they are).
• Called ethos by Aristotle

3
Credibility

• Credibility is
• 1. Receiver-based
• 2. Multidimensional
• 3. Situational / Contextual
• 4. Dynamic

4
Dimensions of Credibility

• Factor analysis has helped us to uncover the
  primary and secondary dimensions of credibility
• Primary dimensions
• Secondary dimensions

5
Primary Dimensions

• Expertise (being an expert)
• Trustworthiness
• Goodwill

6
Secondary Dimensions

• Extroversion extent to which the communicator
  is energetic and enthusiastic
• Composure extent to which communicator is calm,
  cool, collected
• Sociability extent to which source is friendly
  and likeable
• Inspiring how enthusiastic the communicator
  makes others

7
Sleeper Effect

• First persuasive messages fade as time passes
• A message from a low credibility source may
  increase in persuasiveness as time passes
• Absolute sleeper effect
• Relative sleeper effect
• This phenomenon is inconsistent and not well
  understood

8
Image management

• Both people and corporations have positive images
  that they want to keep
• When something hurts our credibility, we often do
  things to try and reverse the negative
  perceptions
• 1. Excuses
• 2. Justifications

9
Image management (contd)

• For example

10
Enhancing Ones Credibility

• How can you be more persuasive?
• Be prepared and organized
• Cite evidence and sources
• Cite qualifications / expertise
• Build trust be honest and sincere
• Display goodwill show that you care

11
Enhancing Credibility (contd)

• 6. Adopt delivery style to audience
• 7. Use assertive communication
• 8. Emphasize your similarity to others
• 9. Try to increase receiver involvement
• 10. Get endorsed by someone with high credibility

12
Communicator Characteristicsand
Persuasibility(Chapter 5)
13
Communicator Characteristics

• A number of factors have been examined in terms
  of influence on persuasion.
• Such as

14
Communicator Characteristics

• Age Generally, as we grow older
• Our persuasive attempts get better
• We tend to be less prone to persuasion
• Gender
• Men are perceived (by both genders) as more
  persuasive than women
• Which gender is more easily persuaded? Results
  are mixed. Its probably a complex answer.

15
Communicator Characteristics (contd)

• Culture
• Individualism vs. Collectivism - extent to which
  cultures value independence and individual goals
  vs. concern for others and goals of a collective
• Individualism (e.g., USA)
• The art of being unique
• Shes got a style all her own
• Collectivism (e.g., Korea)
• Sharing is beautiful
• The dream of prosperity for all of us

16
Communicator Characteristics (contd)

• Intelligence
• Generally, it has been thought that those with
  low intelligence are easiest to persuade
• However, evidence for this is not clear, and in
  some cases they may be difficult to persuade
  (e.g., if they cant understand the message)
• In some cases those with moderate / higher
  intelligence may be easier to persuade.

17
Communicator Characteristics (contd)

• Self-esteem similar to intelligence. It may be
  that those with moderate self-esteem are easiest
  to persuade.
• Anxiety research on this is unclear. At the
  very least, message should include a solution to
  be persuasive.
• Self-Monitoring low / high, depending upon how
  aware you are of social cues
• High self-monitors tend to be persuaded more
  easily than low self-monitors

18
Communicator Characteristics (contd)

• Ego-involvement people are ego-involved when an
  issue has personal significance to them and their
  sense of self
• Its difficult to persuade someone who is highly
  ego-involved
• Authoritarianism (dogmatism) a characteristic
  of people who value conventional norms and rigid
  control
• In some cases they are harder to persuade, and in
  some cases its easier

19
Communicator Characteristics (contd)

• Need for Cognition (NFC)
• Some people have high NFC, some low
• Those with high NFC think more, and may be
  persuaded differently than those with low NFC
• Specifically, those with high NFC may take more
  quality arguments to persuade, versus low NFC who
  do more peripheral processing

20
Aggressive Communication

• Extent of aggressive communication style
  represented in 4 personality traits
• 2 constructive, 2 destructive
• Assertiveness defending your rights and acting
  in your own best interest
• Argumentativeness tendency to defend and refute
  positions on controversial issues
• Hostility tendency to be angry, and includes
  irritability and resentment
• Verbal aggressiveness tendency to attack
  someone verbally

21
Social Judgment Theory

• Theory says that there are a range of possible
  opinions one can hold.
• We have ranges of opinions on various topics.
• A complex way to look at attitudes, especially on
  tricky topics.

22
Social Judgment Theory (contd)

• Latitude of Rejection
• (what we wont accept)
• Latitude of Noncommitment
• (not sure / ambivalent)
• Latitude of Acceptance
• (range of acceptance)
• Anchor
• (what we think)

Lenient Punishment
X
Harsh Punishment