Selecting the Message Source
Research has shown that the credibility of the source is crucial to a message’s acceptance. The three most often identified characteristics of credibility are expertise, trustworthiness, and likability.31 Expertise is the specialized knowledge the communicator possesses to back the claim being made. Trustworthiness reflects how objective and honest the source is perceived to be. Friends are trusted more than strangers or salespeople, and people who are not paid to endorse a product are viewed as more trustworthy than people who are paid. Likability describes the source’s attractiveness, measured in terms of candor, humor, and naturalness.
The most credible source will score high on all three dimensions—expertise, ...
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