Source Credibility and Influence on attitude
People read for entertainment and knowledge-wise purposes; to this effect, if they are to be entertained or educated, the source they are getting the information must be authentic to bolster their belief. Smith et al. (2013) define credibility as the ‘power to inspire a belief.’ Therefore, a credible source should provide reliable information that the reader can believe to be true. In essence, nobody wants to be going through a book or an article whose information has no tangible evidence. However, it is crucial to understand that a credible source does not have a rigid definition. It can change depending on the field within which the source is addressing (Harmon & Coney, 1982). However, in general terms, a credible source is not biased and provides tangible information backed up by evidence.
In determining the credibility of a source, several factors have to be considered in establishing this claim. More importantly, however, one should take a closer look at the authors. This involves determining their influence on the field they are writing about, their credentials, and how long they have been writing (Smith et al., 2013). Additionally, one should also pay attention to the length and contents of the source. Does it have an abstract? A reference list and well documented scientific data to back up the claim? Other factors that one should look out for include the audience being addressed, e.g., scholars, ordinary people, and the like.
More to this, it goes without saying that source credibility affects attitude change. As Tormala et al. (2006) argue, a credible source influences an individual’s confidence in their thoughts, engineered through the thought process. Therefore, a credible source will have the readers change their attitude and stand on a particular issue due to conviction, which is brought about by the belief that the source is reliable and one can depend on it when arguing in public.
In conclusion, a source is rated according to its credibility. How reliable is the information embedded within the source, are the authors well known and how much influence do they have in their respective fields? More to this, we have to consider who is being addressed by the article. It is likely to be more credible when the target audience is professionals or scholars than when addressing a typical population.
References
Harmon, R. R., & Coney, K. A. (1982). The persuasive effects of source credibility in buy and lease situations. Journal of Marketing research, 19(2), 255-260.
Smith, C. T., De Houwer, J., & Nosek, B. A. (2013). Consider the source: Persuasion of implicit evaluations is moderated by source credibility. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(2), 193-205.
Tormala, Z. L., Briñol, P., & Petty, R. E. (2006). When credibility attacks: The reverse impact of source credibility on persuasion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42(5), 684-691.