Consider the source: persuasion of implicit evaluations is moderated by source credibility

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Persuasion Science

Background:

• Persuasion research traditionally focuses on altering explicit, self-reported attitudes.
• Implicit attitude change research primarily uses retraining or contextual manipulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if direct appeals can influence implicit evaluations, mirroring their effect on explicit evaluations.
• To explore the role of source credibility and cognitive load in direct appeal persuasion for both implicit and explicit evaluations.

Main Methods:

• Five studies were conducted to test the impact of direct appeals on implicit and explicit evaluations.
• Source credibility (high vs. low) and cognitive load were manipulated.
• Participants' explicit and implicit evaluations were measured after exposure to persuasive information.

Main Results:

• Both explicit and implicit evaluations were more persuaded by highly credible sources compared to low-credibility sources.
• Source credibility influenced implicit evaluation persuasion only when participants could process source information.
• Cognitive load did not affect source credibility's impact on explicit evaluations but did for implicit ones.

Conclusions:

• Direct appeals are relevant for changing implicit evaluations, expanding on traditional persuasion research.
• Findings suggest distinct, yet related, processes underlie explicit and implicit attitude change via persuasion.