This article reports the results of an experimental inves
tigation of the influence of a communicator's characteristics
on respondent's evaluation of an advertisement when the
communicator is in the role of a spokesperson. Specifically,
the author assesses the impact of the physical attractiveness,
sex and race of a spokesperson, the sex of the respondent and
product advertised on respondent's attitude toward the ad
vertisement, and respondent's perceptions of the advertised
product.
The results presented indicate that the effectiveness of the
factors mentioned are dependent on the specific objective of
the communication. A main effect of physical attractiveness
was noted on a subject's attitude toward the advertisement,
on perceptions of product quality and intent to purchase. The
sex of the communicator impacted on a subject's perception
of product quality and interacted with the race of the com
municator to effect the intent to purchase variable. Race was
shown to effect the subject's perception of product quality. A
main effect of the sex of the subject was noted for the cogni
tion variable.
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