Company Affiliation and Communicative Ability: How Perceived Organizational Ties Influence Source Persuasiveness in a Company-Negative News Environment

Abstract

The influence of attributing corrective information to different spokespersons in the wake of company-negative accusations was investigated experimentally. In particular, the research pitted a company's own public relations sources against sources working for a firm hired by the maligned organization and sources employed by agencies investigating negative claims independently. Results suggest that public relations sources are less credible than outside sources. Over time, however, public relations sources are judged as equally credible as hired and independent sources.