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,...