Consumers' Use of Persuasion Knowledge: The Effects of Accessibility and Cognitive Capacity on Perceptions of an Influence Agent
Margaret Campbell and Amna Kirmani ask when people draw on their knowledge of persuasion to judge an influence agent such as a salesperson. They propose that consumers use it when they infer that the agent may have a persuasive motive, and that whether they do so depends on how accessible that motive is and on how much cognitive capacity the consumer has to spare. In the experiments the abstract describes, cognitively busy targets were more likely to use persuasion knowledge than unbusy observers when the motive was highly accessible, and busy targets rated the salesperson as more sincere than unbusy observers did. The abstract reports no sample sizes.
Margaret Campbell and Amna Kirmani ask when people draw on their knowledge of persuasion to judge an influence agent such as a salesperson. They propose that consumers use it when they infer that the agent may have a persuasive motive, and that whether they do so depends on how accessible that motive is and on how much cognitive capacity the consumer has to spare. In the experiments the abstract describes, cognitively busy targets were more likely to use persuasion knowledge than unbusy observers when the motive was highly accessible, and busy targets rated the salesperson as more sincere than unbusy observers did. The abstract reports no sample sizes.
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Campbell, M. C., & Kirmani, A. (2000). Consumers' Use of Persuasion Knowledge: The Effects of Accessibility and Cognitive Capacity on Perceptions of an Influence Agent. Journal of Consumer Research, 27(1), 69-83. doi:10.1086/314309