Let's take a closer look at the source of the message which can play a huge role in determining whether your customers are going to bother to pay attention to what you have to say at all. We know that several factors influence the effectiveness of a message source. When we attribute the same message to different sources, and measure the degree of attitude change that occurs after listeners hear it, we can isolate which characteristics of a communicator cause attitude change, credibility and attractiveness are two particularly important source characteristics. So how do communication specialists decide whether distress credibility or attractiveness when they select a message source, generally an attractive source is more effective for receivers who tend to be sensitive about social acceptance and others opinions. It's better for products with high social risk. On the other hand, a credible or experts source is more powerful when he or she speaks to internally oriented people.
It's generally better for products that are high in physical or financial risk. Let's take a look at a commercial that we would never see today that illustrates the importance of credible sources. Check this out. Having a mighty busy time keeping up with him. Timeout for many men of medicine usually means just long enough to enjoy a cigarette. And because they know what a pleasure it is to smoke a mild good tasting cigarette.
They're particular about the brand they choose. In a repeated national say doctors in all branches of medicine doctors In all parts of the country were asked, What cigarettes Do you smoke? Once again the brand name most was capital. Yes, according to this repeated nationwide survey, more doctors smoke camels than any other cigarette. Why not change to candles for the next 30 days and see what a difference it makes in your smoking enjoyment. Agree with your throat.
See how mild and good tasting a cigarette can be? I think it's safe to say that times have certainly changed. But the basic principle you saw on this commercial hasn't. A credible source is particularly persuasive when the consumer has yet to learn much about a product or has not yet formed an opinion of it. switching over to source attractiveness, this refers to the social value that recipients attribute to a communicator source attractiveness relates to the person's physical appearance, personality, social status, or in some cases similarity to the receiver. As we saw in the last module, we assume that good looking people are smarter, hipper, and happier than the rest of us.
This is sometimes referred to as what is beautiful is good. And researchers have found strong evidence for a halo effect, which we've also discussed earlier. In other words, we assume that people who rank high on one dimension also Excel on others. The takeaway is that the source of your messages to customers is crucial. choose carefully and match attractiveness or expertise to the needs of the audience.