Showing papers on "Credibility published in 2000"

The Impact of Corporate Credibility and Celebrity Credibility on Consumer Reaction to Advertisements and Brands

Abstract: Advertisers frequently use endorsers or spokespersons as credible sources to influence consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions. Corporate credibility-the reputation of a company for honesty and expertise-is another type of source credibility that can influence consumer reactions to ads and shape brand attitudes. The present study assessed the impact of endorser and corporate credibility on attitude-toward-the-ad, attitudetoward-the-brand, and purchase intentions. We surveyed 152 adult consumers who viewed a fictitious ad for Mobil Oil company. They rated the credibility of the ad's endorser, the credibility of the company, and attitude-toward-the-ad, attitude-toward-the-brand, and purchase intentions. Path analysis confirmed that endorser credibility had its strongest impact on Aad while corporate credibility had its strongest impact on AB. The findings suggest that corporate credibility plays an important role in consumers' reactions to advertisements and brands, independent of the equally ...

Effectiveness of problem-based learning curricula: research and theory.

Abstract: PurposeThis article provides a critical overview of problem-based learning (PBL), its effectiveness for knowledge acquisition and clinical performance, and the underlying educational theory. The focus of the paper is on (1) the credibility of claims (both empirical and theoretical) about the

Perceptions of internet information credibility

Abstract: People increasingly rely on Internet and web-based information despite evidence that it is potentially inaccurate and biased. Therefore, this study sought to assess people's perceptions of the credibility of various categories of Internet information compared to similar information provided by other media. The 1,041 respondents also were asked about whether they verified Internet information. Overall, respondents reported they considered Internet information to be as credible as that obtained from television, radio, and magazines, but not as credible as newspaper information. Credibility among the types of information sought, such as news and entertainment, varied across media channels. Respondents said they rarely verified web-based information, although this too varied by the type of information sought. Levels of experience and how respondents perceived the credibility of information were related to whether they verified information. This study explores the social relevance of the findings and discusses...

Influences On Knowledge processes In Organizational Learning: The Psychosocial Filter

Abstract: This paper reports a segment of broader theory-building case study research exploring organizational learning and knowledge processes in a bio-medical consortium. Its focus is the individual-level factors that influence knowledge processes associated with organizational learning. As we explored how rganizational learning occurred, the underlying knowledge processes came forward as complex and idiosyncratic. In an unanticipated finding, micro-processes emerged as highly influential, with individual perceptions of approachability, credibility and trustworthiness mediating knowledge importing and knowledge sharing activities. We introduce a model –the psychosocial filter– to describe the cluster of micro-processes that were brought forward in the study. Firstly, scientists filtered knowledge porting by deciding whom they would approach for information and from whom they would accept input. The individual’s confidence to initiate information requests (which we termed social confidence) and the perceived credibility of knowledge suppliers both mediated knowledge importing. Secondly, scientists mediated knowledge sharing by actively deciding with whom they would share their own knowledge. Perceived trustworthiness – based on perceptions of what olleagues were likely to do with sensitive information – was the factor that influenced knowledge-sharing decisions. Significantly, the psychosocial filter seemed to constitute a heedful process with high functionality. Its effect was not to block knowledge circulation, but instead to ensure that nowledge-sharing decisions were made in a thoughtful and deliberate way. The psychosocial filter suggests an initial framework for conceptualizing the role that individual-level processes play in organizational knowledge sharing. Building on this, the model provides a platform for more focused exploration of knowledge processes and social relationships in organizational learning.

Elements of Reason: Three Steps toward a Theory of Motivated Political Reasoning

Abstract: The human understanding, when it has once adopted an opinion … draws all things else to support and agree with it. Though there may be (more) instances to be found on the other side, yet these it either neglects or despises, or else by some distinction sets aside and rejects. –Francis Bacon, New Organon (1621) In this essay we propose a theory of motivated reasoning that can account for why both ordinary citizens and political sophisticates are prone to follow Bacon's dictum. Three subtheories – hot cognition, online processing, and a “how-do-I-feel?” heuristic – working together, provide a three-step mechanism for how we believe citizens think and reason about political leaders, groups, and issues. This tripartite theory of motivated reasoning starts with the notion that all social concepts are affect laden; all social information is affectively charged (Bargh 1994, 1997; Fazio, Sanbonmatsu, Powell, and Kardes 1986; Fazio and Williams 1986; Lodge and Stroh 1993; Taber, Lodge, and Glathar 2000). This is the hot cognition hypothesis (Abelson 1963). Specific to politics, all political leaders, groups, issues, and ideas you have thought about and evaluated in the past are now affectively charged – positively or negatively, strongly or weakly – and this affective tag is stored directly with the concept in long-term memory. On-line processing (Anderson and Hubert 1963; Lodge, Steenbergen, and Brau 1995; Park and Pennington 1986) is a mechanism for updating the value of affective tags attached to concepts in memory.

Foundations of empowerment evaluation

Abstract: Introduction Introducing Empowerment Evaluation as Part of the Intellectual Landscape of Evaluation Background and Theory Exploring the Background and Theory of Empowerment Evaluation with Relevant Examples and Tools Three Steps Presenting the Three Steps of Empowerment Evaluation and Related Facets Four Case Examples Highlighting the Steps of Empowerment Evaluation with Four Case Examples A High Stakes Case Example Documenting the Utility, Credibility, and Rigor of Empowerment Evaluation in a High-Stakes Arena-Accreditation The Standards Applying the Standards to Empowerment Evaluation Caveats Discussing Caveats and Concerns About Empowerment Evaluation A Dialogue Distinguishing Empowerment Evaluation From Other Approaches The World Wide Web Using the Internet as a Tool to Disseminate Empowerment Evaluation Worldwide Conclusion Concluding by Speaking One's Truth About the Strengths, Limitations, and Conditions of Empowerment Evaluation

The Credibility Crisis of Community Regulation

Abstract: The credibility crisis of Community regulation is symbolized by the recurrent food scares, and even more by official reactions such as the refusal of the German and French governments to abide by the decision of the Commission to lift the ban on exports of British beef. However, the crisis is not new, nor is it limited to food safety. Problems of regulatory credibility in the EC/EU arise at different levels. Some are rooted in the deep structure of the founding treaties, while other problems result from path-dependent aspects of the integration process, from institutional inertia, or from the pursuit of short-term advantages. This article is primarily concerned with the second group of problems, but a short discussion of the more fundamental issues seems useful as a reminder of the limits of what can be achieved by piecemeal institutional engineering. The article addresses two specific threats to credibility: the mismatch between the Community’s highly complex and differentiated regulatory tasks and the available administrative instruments; and the problem of credible commitment caused by the increasing level of politicization and parliamentarization of the Commission. The solution to both sets of problems, it is argued, may be found in a more far-reaching delegation of powers to independent European agencies embedded in transnational networks of national regulators and international organizations. Recent theoretical advances in the area of institutional design and procedural controls suggest that such networks could be made to satisfy all reasonable requirements of subsidiarity, accountability and efficiency.

Central-Bank Credibility: Why Do We Care? How Do We Build It?

Abstract: Central bank credibility plays a pivotal role in much of the modern literature on monetary policy, yet it is difficult to measure or even assess objectively. A survey of central bankers was conducted to determine their attitudes on two important issues: why credibility matters, and how credibility can be built. The central bankers' answers are compared with the responses of NBER-affiliated macro and monetary economists. The two groups agree much more than they disagree. They are particularly united in their evaluations of ways to make a central bank credible -- assigning high ratings to the central bank's track record and low ratings to theoretical ideas like precommitment and incentive-compatible contracts.

Credibility of Voluntary Disclosure

Abstract: I examine the credibility of a manager's disclosure of privately observed nonverifiable information to an investor in a repeated cheap-talk game setting. In the single-period game no communication occurs. In the repeated game, however, the manager almost always truthfully reveals his private information provided the manager is sufficiently patient, the accounting report is sufficiently useful for assessing the truthfulness of the manager's voluntary disclosure, and the manager's disclosure performance is evaluated over a sufficiently long period. These factors may explain a manager's propensity to release private information to investors.

Using is believing: The influence of reliance on the credibility of online political information among politically interested internet users

Abstract: This study surveyed politically interested Web users online to investigate the degree to which reliance on traditional and online sources predicts credibility of online newspapers, television news, news-magazines, candidate literature, and political issue-oriented sites after controlling for demographic and political factors. Reliance on online and traditional media was the strongest predictor of credibility of online sources. Reliance on traditional media tended to be a stronger predictor of credibility of its online counterpart than reliance on the Web in general.

Credibility of Voluntary Disclosure

Abstract: I examine the credibility of a manager's disclosure of privately observed nonverifiable information to an investor in a repeated cheap-talk game setting. In the single-period game no communication occurs. In the repeated game, however, the manager almost always truthfully reveals his private information provided the manager is sufficiently patient, the accounting report is sufficiently useful for assessing the truthfulness of the manager's voluntary disclosure, and the manager's disclosure performance is evaluated over a sufficiently long period. These factors may explain a manager's propensity to release private information to investors.

Watch It: The Risks And Promises Of Information Technologies For Education

Abstract: From the Publisher: This book takes a close look at the complex and contradictory consequences of new technologies in the classroom. In a series of interrelated essays, the authors explore such issues as access, credibility, new approaches to reading and writing, the glut of information, privacy, censorship, commercialization, and online community.

Science, Policy, and Practice: Three Cultures in Search of a Shared Mission

Abstract: Research on child development, the design of social policies, and the delivery of human services for children and families reflect three related yet separate cultures. The capacity to navigate across their borders, to understand their different rules of evidence, to speak their distinctive languages, and to achieve credibility in all three worlds while maintaining a sense of intellectual integrity in each, requires respect for their differences and a commitment to their shared mission. The transmission of knowledge from the academy to the domains of social policy and practice is a formidable task. This challenge could be facilitated by a simple taxonomy that differentiates established knowledge from both reasonable hypotheses and unwarranted or irresponsible assertions that are made in the name of science. An investment in effective "cross-cultural" translation offers a potent strategy for enhancing both the generation of new research and the application of cutting-edge knowledge to make a difference in the lives of children and their families.

Consumer product evaluation: the interactive effect of message framing, presentation order, and source credibility

Abstract: Subjects (n = 200) received a detailed description of a product and were asked to rate their attitudes about this product. Presentation order, source credibility and message framing were manipulated in a 2× 2× 2 completely crossed factorial design. Subjects who received a positively framed message rated product attitudes significantly greater than those subjects who received a negatively framed message. Also, significant differences in message framing effects were found for those subjects who received the framed message first in the nonexpert condition (credibility) and those subjects who received the framed message last in the expert condition. Findings are then discussed.

Alliances: Why Write Them Down?

Abstract: States formalize some relations into military alliances. A formal commitment could increase credibility by signaling an intention to come to the aid of another state or by creating commitment by altering the costs and benefits of such intervention. In this review, I lay out three considerations in a decision to intervene in a war. Signals require some costs to trasmit information, and I examine some possible costs in alliances. A state's willingness to intervene could be enhanced by audience costs for failure to honor a commitment. Neorealist arguments about alliances are flawed in asserting that security is a public good and in failing to realize that all states have both status quo and revisionist interests. This review surveys a number of smaller topics in alliances—the tradeoff between arms and allies, burden sharing, alliance management and duration, nonsecurity benefits, and domestic politics.

Media Credibility — Experience or Image?: A Survey on the Credibility of the World Wide Web in Germany in Comparison to Other Media

Abstract: In Germany the World Wide Web is at an earlier stage of development than in the US. In the spring of 1999 about 17.7 percent of the German population used the web or other online services. The article looks at how the 10 percent of online users and 90 percent of non-users rate the credibility of the new medium, and how their attitudes, stemming from different sources — own experience vs media coverage and personal narrations — differ. A survey of 540 respondents carried out in summer 1998 found that German users and non-users rate the credibility of the web as remarkably similar to television and newspapers. Nevertheless, there are some differences. The article shows that the credibility of the web, as one factor of diffusion, is seen as quite positive, but television and newspapers are still in front in Germany.

Accountability, Credibility, Transparency and Stabilization Policy in the Eurosystem

Abstract: This paper surveys and evaluates alternative views regarding the desirable combination of accountability, credibility and trasnparency in the newly created ECB (European Central Bank), including recent controversies regarding publication of minutes, Council member votes and ECB forecasts.

The Suggestibility of Children: Scientific Research and Legal Implications

Abstract: In this Article, Professors Ceci and Friedman analyze psychological studies on children's suggestibility and find a broad consensus that young children are suggestible to a significant degree. Studies confirm that interviewers commonly use suggestive interviewing techniques that exacerbate this suggestibility, creating a significant risk in some forensic contexts-notably but not exclusively those of suspected child abuse-that children will make false assertions of fact. Professors Ceci and Friedman address the implications of this difficulty for the legal system and respond to Professor Lyon's criticism of this view recently articulated in the Cornell Law Review. Using Bayesian probability theory, Professors Ceci and Friedman assess the implications of children's suggestibility for factfinding in adjudication. Based on the constitutionally compelled principle that an inaccurate criminal conviction is afar worse result than a failure to gain an accurate conviction, even a slight risk of false allegations is signfficant. Professors Ceci and Friedman present several policy implications that follow from their analysis. First, interviewers should use leading questions only as a last resort, and they should completely avoid some strongly suggestive techniques that create particularly significant risks offalse allegation. Second, except in very limited circumstances the fact that a child has been subjected to suggestive questioning should not preclude her from testifying. Instead, in appropriate cases, courts should be receptive to expert evidence on the suggestibility of children. Furthermore, in some extreme cases in which the child's allegation is essential to the prosecution and the child was subjected to very strongly suggestive influences, a criminal conviction should be precluded. To the extent that reliability is a factor in determining the admissibility of hearsay statements, in some circumstances children's statements should be considered unreliable. Finally, absent exigent circumstances, all interviews conducted as part of a criminal abuse investigation should be videotaped, to reduce the uncertainty as to whether interviewers have used suggestive questioning techniques.

An Empirical Test of an Updated Relevance-Accessibility Model of Advertising Effectiveness.

Abstract: The Relevance-Accessibility Model provides a framework for studying advertising effects on brand choice. To do this, it shifts the focus of study from the time of advertising exposure to the time of brand choice. The model is motivationally based. Consumers' motivation to deliberate at the time of brand choice influences consumers' preferred choice process. Three choice processes; optimizing, satisficing and indifference, are associated with the preferred use of three different types of information: evidence of performance superiority, evidence of credibility and evidence of liking, respectively. The model predicts that an advertising message appeal is most likely to influence brand choice when it is both relevant and accessible. The message appeal that can most easily achieve the choice objective is the most relevant appeal. A message appeal is most likely to be accessible when consumer involvement at the time of advertising exposure leads to its efficient encoding in memory. The major contribut...

The 1995–96 Taiwan Strait Confrontation: Coercion, Credibility, and the Use of Force

Abstract: On May 22, 1995, the White House approved a visa for Lee Teng-hui to visit the United States in early June to attend his graduate school reunion at Cornell University. The decision to allow Taiwan’s most senior leader to enter the United States reversed more than twenty-ave years of U.S. diplomatic precedent and challenged Clinton administration public policy statements and private reassurances to Chinese leaders that such a visit was contrary to U.S. policy. Equally important, the visa decision followed a three-year evolution of U.S. policy toward Taiwan. In 1992 the Bush administration, in violation of its pledge in a 1982 U.S.-China arms sales communiqué to reduce the quantity of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, sold Taiwan 150 F-16 warplanes. In 1994 the Clinton administration revised upward the protocol rules regarding U.S. “unofacial” treatment of Taiwan diplomats, which had for the most part been in effect since 1981. Then the next year, the administration allowed Lee Teng-hui to visit the United States. From China’s perspective, Washington seemed determined to continue revising its Taiwan policy, thus encouraging Taiwan’s leaders to move closer toward a declaration of sovereignty from mainland China. Given China’s credible forty-ave-year commitment to use force in retaliation against Taiwan independence, such a declaration would likely lead to war. During the ten months following Lee’s visit to Cornell, the United States and China reopened their difacult negotiations over U.S. policy toward Taiwan. The negotiations reached a climax in March 1996, when China displayed a dramatic show of force consisting of military exercises and missile tests targeted near Taiwan, and the United States responded with an equally dramatic deployment of two carrier battle groups. The 1995–96 Taiwan Strait confrontation was the closest the United States and China had come to a crisis since the early 1960s. It was a critical turning point in post–Cold War U.S.-China relations and

The Influence of Corporate Credibility on Consumer Attitudes and Purchase Intent

Abstract: Corporate credibility forms part of the overall reputation of a company. It describes how consumers evaluate the company's honesty and expertise. Along with endorser credibility, it is another type of source credibility that can influence consumer reactions to a company's advertisements and shape their brand attitudes. In this paper, we examine these two sources of credibility and assess their relative impact on three sets of consumer perceptions — their ‘attitude-toward-the-ad,’ ‘attitude-toward-the-brand,’ and ‘purchase intentions.’ The results of two experimental studies indicate that both corporate credibility and endorser credibility had significant impacts on attitude-toward-the-ad, attitude-toward-the-brand, and purchase intentions. However, while corporate credibility had a greater effect on attitude-toward-the-brand, endorser credibility seemed to have a stronger influence on attitude-toward-the-ad. Overall, the findings confirm that corporate credibility plays a key role in influencing consumer reactions to advertisements and brands.

The Importance of Randomized Field Trials

Abstract: This article lays out five standards for judging the importance of randomized field trials in estimating the relative effects of new programs and new variations on existing programs. These standards include contemporary evaluation policy, the historical development of trials in diverse sciences, ethics, normative practice, and the credibility of alternative approaches to estimating the effects of programs or variations. Empirical evidence and a line of reasoning bearing on each standard are made plain.

The political economy of 'policy credibility': the new-classical macroeconomics and the remaking of emerging economies

Abstract: The criterion of "policy credibility" is invoked with increasing frequency today by new-classical development economists in debates over economic and institutional reform in developing and transitional countries. The paper argues that the credibility criterion is used to privilege neoliberal economic policies and associated institutions. The paper demonstrates that the credibility criterion is theoretically anti-pluralist and politically anti-democratic. In this connection, the paper argues that a policy's credibility is always secured endogenously through political and economic power rather than exogenously by virtue of the epistemiological status of the theory that promotes it. The paper concludes by suggesting two alternative criteria by which policy regimes and the governance structure of monetary institutions could be adjudicated. These alternative criteria are termed the "principle of democratic credibility" and the "principle of fallibility". Copyright 2000 by Oxford University Press.

David and Goliath. When empirical and clinical standards of practice meet.

Abstract: Traditional clinical methods of assessing the effectiveness of psychological treatments have come under attack. Experience and strong belief frequently lead to false confidence in treatments and sometimes result in damage to patients. Advocates have called for a scientific standard to replace the extant standards based on expert opinion and cost. Yet there are costs to the use of both the old standards and scientific standards based on manualized treatments and associated research. This article proposes a set of criteria for determining whether a treatment is scientifically credible based on empirically informed principles rather than on techniques or single-theory formulations. This proposal offers a way to overcome the problems of rigid manuals as well as those associated with forcing clinicians to adhere to theories and practices that are outside of their interest, experience, and expertise. Instead, scientifically sound, cross-cutting principles of treatment selection are proposed by which a treatment could be evaluated for scientific credibility and applied from a number of theoretical frameworks.

Improving Employee Acceptance Toward Performance Appraisal and Merit Pay Systems The Role of Leadership Credibility

Abstract: This paper reports the attitudinal findings of an ongoing study of county government professionals regarding a newly implemented performance appraisal and merit pay system More specifically, the study explores whether these attitudes change from before to after implementation ofthese systems Finally, the study examines whether leadership credibility and other variables in any way enhance the chances for success in implementing these human resource technologies The findings indicate, for example, that leader credibility and motivation to change on the part of the leader signifi cantly increases employee acceptance toward performance appraisal and merit pay

Is Trust a Realistic Goal of Environmental Risk Communication

Abstract: Environmental risk communication often fails in its efforts to overcome prevalent public distrust of government and industrial agencies. But, is achieving trust a realistic goal? The authors begin by reexamining definitions of the terms trust and credibility and summarizing recent assessments of the role trust plays in risk communication. On the basis of research conducted among people living near major nuclear power and hazardous waste storage facilities in rural South Carolina, they address whether trust, defined as uncritical emotional acceptance, is necessary for adequate risk communication. The authors propose that strategies of risk communication should focus not on building trust but on establishing procedures and standards that the public understands and accepts.