IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/jexpos/v10y2023i3p328-342_2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When Do Sources Persuade? The Effect of Source Credibility on Opinion Change

Author

Listed:
  • Clemm von Hohenberg, Bernhard
  • Guess, Andrew M.

Abstract

Discussions around declining trust in the US media can be vague about its effects. One classic answer comes from the persuasion literature, in which source credibility plays a key role. However, existing research almost universally takes credibility as a given. To overcome the potentially severe confounding that can result from this, we create a hypothetical news outlet and manipulate to what extent it is portrayed as credible. We then randomly assign subjects to read op-eds attributed to the source. Our credibility treatments are strong, increasing trust in our mock source until up to 10 days later. We find some evidence that the resulting higher perceived credibility boosts the persuasiveness of arguments about more partisan topics (but not for a less politicized issue). Though our findings are mixed, we argue that this experimental approach can fruitfully enhance our understanding of the interplay between source trust and opinion change over sustained periods.

Suggested Citation

  • Clemm von Hohenberg, Bernhard & Guess, Andrew M., 2023. "When Do Sources Persuade? The Effect of Source Credibility on Opinion Change," Journal of Experimental Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 328-342, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jexpos:v:10:y:2023:i:3:p:328-342_2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2052263022000021/type/journal_article
    File Function: link to article abstract page
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cup:jexpos:v:10:y:2023:i:3:p:328-342_2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kirk Stebbing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cambridge.org/xps .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.