Credibility of Source and Recipient's Attitude: Factors in the Perception and Retention of Information on Smoking Behavior 1

Abstract

The effects of credibility of source (high, medium, and low) and S¿ smoking habits (smoker and nonsmoker) on how Ss react to and retain information contained in a printed passage on smoking were investigated. The credibility of the various sources and Ss’ smoking habits were determined by preliminary questionnaires given to Ss earlier. The high, medium, and low credibility sources selected were the Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health, Life Magazine, and an advertisement by the American Tobacco Company, respectively. Each of these sources was identified with the smoking information both verbally and in the information content. Then the printed information was given to 57 male and female introductory psychology students to read; a group of 19 Ss received the printed information from one of the three sources. Immediately, retention was determined on an 18-item test, their reactions in terms of their stated agreement or disagreement with the source, and whether they considered it trustworthy or biased. Statistically significant results indicated that: (1) Ss receiving the information attributed to sources of high and low credibility retained more information than those receiving the information attributed to a source of medium credibility; (2) Ss who perceived the information as unbiased retained more than those who perceived it as biased; and (3) as credibility of the source increased, the percentage of Ss who agreed with the information and perceived it as trustworthy also increased. Results were interpreted in terms of the cognitive consistency of Ss’ attitudes toward the source and content of information.

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