The Persuasive Effect of Salesperson Credibility: Conceptual and Empirical Examination

There has been extensive research on the effect of source credibility on persuasion in social psychology. This paper suggests that some of the research on source credibility in social psychology may not be valid in a personal selling situation. Thus, in a personal selling situation, relationships between buyer's prior expectations and effect of salesperson credibility are proposed and tested experimentally. Some direct effects of salesperson credibility were observed which were as suggested by social psychology research. However, inverse persuasive effects of salesperson credibility predicted by social psychology research were not observed. Managerial implications of the research are suggested and directions for future research proposed.