Credibility

A study done by Ambler and Hollier (2004) concerning advertising online found that when an advertisement was perceived to be more extravagant i.e. have spent more money on the ad, the persuasiveness of that advertisement improved significantly as well as perceptions of the brand’s quality. The study explains that the advertisement’s perceived extravagance added to the effectiveness of the advertisement by increasing its credibility.

Increased credibility equals increased persuasiveness of the advertisement overall and strengthens the brand’s quality. Extravagance or “waste” is defined in advertising as anything perceived by the intended market that seems to serve no purpose or adds nothing to the understanding of the message “Waste” is also a term that can be applied to the biological world (Ambler, Hollier, 2004).

A principle in biology called the “Handicap Principle” states that animals use “wasteful” or extravagant characteristics to signify biological fitness such as antlers on a deer or a peacock’s tail. These characteristics are used as signs of health and strength and are very credible signs to a prospective mate that health and strength exist. There is a correspondence with advertising. The study shows that “waste” in advertising acts the same way. Companies spending large amounts of money etc. in advertising campaigns signal brand fitness by communicating excellence or skill in a trustworthy or credible way. For example, a company that has large advertising spending will signal to the intended market that the company is willing to practice more expensive advertising because they know that their product’s quality is high. By having money to use in advertising they are demonstrating their company’s ‘health” therefore increasing its persuasiveness and brand’s quality by demonstrating said “health” in a credible way (Ambler, Hollier, 2004).

White, Clapper, Noel, Fortier, and Grabolosa (2007) looked at persuasiveness of online sales messages on eBay and found that credibility of the message source or seller is an important factor of persuasiveness. An example of indicators of the seller’s credibility on eBay product listings are that possible buyers can look at the quantity of feedback messages or comments from people who had prior business dealings with the seller as well as percentage of feedbacks that were positive. These elements help form one’s perception of the credibility of the seller by allowing the buyer to see how others have fared with the seller. The more positive those prior transactions appear, the higher the perceived credibility of the seller, leading to more persuasiveness or possibility of the buyer purchasing something from the seller. For more information on eBay visit the site at: www.ebay.com

The Internet’s simple search, peer on peer, open resource environment has amplified what Blackshaw (2008) deems a credibility crisis for brands. Credibility is incredibly important in today’s Internet world. One of the most important qualities companies can cultivate is credibility due to consumers losing faith in brand credibility.

Blackshaw (2008) discusses six core drivers of credibility that marketers must strive to achieve: trust, authenticity, transparency, listening, responsiveness, and affirmation.

1. Trust is perhaps the most imperative factor of credibility, requiring assurance, reliability, and belief in the brand.

2. Authenticity has to do with being genuine, sincere, consistent and reliable. Authenticity is important to credibility in the age of the Internet, due to patrons having additional tools at their disposal to see the truth and fallacy.

3. Transparency is when a company/ brand disclose the most important information and data about themselves and how brands address disclosures in advertising. This entails frankness and visibility both of which are important on the Internet. Consumer breed media has made transparency for companies no longer a choice. How companies/brands behave surface from the mouths of the patrons who have related experience with the company/brand (eWOM). An example of a company’s frankness could be the health risk disclosures that pharmaceutical companies ad’s are often devoted to.

4. Listening involves the company/brand engaging in open conversation, being approachable and easily reached. Patrons want to feel appreciated and respected. In order for marketers to earn credibility and respect they must merely show they care for their customers. Listening is the underpinning of relationship marketing, humanizing the brand, as well as loyalty building. Almost every patron has an emotional need to be heard and listening confirms this core need. When patrons perceive companies as not listening to them, they become cynical and go to other outlets for their expression. This could be one reason patrons engage in eWOM because they don’t feel as though they are being heard. An example of companies combating this is using blogs in order to place themselves in the position of proactive listeners.

5. Responsiveness deals with companies reacting to, tackling and managing specific patron interactions. A big problem would arise if a company listened to their patrons, but then in turn did nothing about that information. They would lose credibility. However, a company that takes additional effort to be responsive comes across extremely well with patrons. Patrons notice that the company is displaying real concern regarding trouble or suggestions of customers.

6. Affirmation can be seen as the collective declaration of the “truth.” In terms of companies, it’s when patrons communally agree that a company/brand is either positive or negative. The Internet has allowed affirmation to dramatically swell due to eWOM, which is a collective opinion of other patrons, and credible companies/brands in the age of the Internet are affirmed with judgments or comments that are positive, recommendations to buy their product, and good reviews. Affirmation is an important factor in credibility over the Internet because of patrons search for the “truth” about a product.

An article in Business Week listed the top companies according to customer satisfaction. Some of the top companies/brands were LL Bean, Fairmont, Trader Joes, Amico, Ace Hardware and Jet Blue. These companies also tend to have a high amount of favorable unsolicited eWOM opinions (Blackshaw, 2008).