Credibility

Credibility can be defined as the perception or judgment made by message receivers about the believability of the message source and the truthfulness of the message. Source credibility emphasizes the importance of the message source on the impact of the communication process. Credibility, classically referred to as ethos, is a multidimensional construct that was defined and discussed by Aristotle in his treatise, Rhetoric. In his analysis on persuasion, Aristotle defined three elements that comprise a communicator's ability to persuade the audience: ethos refers to character and integrity of the source, logos refers to intelligence or reason, and pathos refers to emotions or charisma. Contemporary research confirms and is consistent with Aristotle's postulates. Expertise or competence and trustworthiness are the two source characteristics with the greatest impact on the perceived credibility of the message source.

Expertise or competence is based on the source ability to make correct claims and deliver logical information based on knowledge, experience, intelligence, qualification, authoritativeness, and professionalism. Trustworthiness is assessed based on the communicator's perceived ability to provide valid and truthful information, to be honest and sincere, but also to be dependable and reliable.

Other factors that affect credibility are goodwill or the communicator's benevolent intention toward the message recipients and communicator's attractiveness. Attractiveness, or physical appearance, is especially important in creating first impressions and thus plays a role in message acceptance.

Credibility is an important concept for the profession of public relations as the effectiveness of communication is directly influenced by the stakeholders’ attitude toward the communicator. Attitude toward the message source affects the way stakeholders evaluate and accept the message, which determines the success of persuasion attempts to shape attitudes and behaviors of stakeholders.

Credibility is related to trust, which is an essential variable in organization-public relationships. A favorable organizational reputation contributes to initial credibility. Public relations professionals need to distinguish between credibility of the organization as a whole and a communicator's credibility, which often determines the selection of spokespersons when discussing specific matters.

New communication technologies and social media allow image and messages to be carefully selected and constructed; thus, online source credibility is becoming increasingly important in relationship building. Based on the assessed credibility of an organizational website, blog, or another channel, people decide whether to engage in relationships or not. Perceived credibility is influenced by the information seeker's motivation, goal (e.g., seeking entertainment, information, or business), experience, culture, knowledge, and skills. Information seekers assess the credibility of an online source based on multiple dimensions, such as gender, attractiveness, source identification and identity, ownership and sponsorship, theme, and purpose, among many other qualities that are viewed simultaneously.