Katherine Campbell, Louisiana State University

Manship School of Mass Communication, LSU Honors College, kcamp34@lsu.edu

Introduction
With the implementation of social networking sites, public relations
practitioners must understand the most beneficial and effective way to
communicate with online consumers.
This study identified what source of content (expert, non-expert and
corporate) has the greatest effect on source credibility, brand attitude,
purchase intent and word-of-mouth intent.

Results
A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine if
the type of source has a significant effect on source credibility, brand
attitude, purchase intent and word-of-mouth intent.

5.28
4.89

Pairwise comparisons revealed a significant mean difference when

expert sources were compared to corporate and non-expert sources.

4.36

Hypothesis testing revealed that millennials see expert users as having

the highest level of credibility and the greatest effect on brand attitude,
purchase intent and word-of-mouth intent.

3.87
Corporate
Expert
Non-Expert

Background
Source Credibility: When a message is communicated by a third-party, it
is perceived as more trustworthy and objective (Yan, Ogle & Hyllegard,
2010).
Brand Attitude: Millennial focus group participants revealed that they are
suspicious of corporations motives and feel like companies intrude into
personal space (Vorvoreanu, 2009).

Expert-generated content on social networking sites has the greatest

positive effect on a millennials perceived credibility of a source.
Expert sources have the most positive effect on a millennials attitude
toward a brand.

Purchase Intent: Participants who viewed a third-party video reported

stronger purchase intentions than those who viewed a company ad (Yan
et al., 2010).
Word-of-Mouth Intent: Consumers have negative attitudes toward
promotional content on social media generated by corporations,
therefore making the content less likely to get shared (Vorvoreanu, 2009).

Expert-generated content has the greatest positive effect on an

individuals intent to purchase a product.
Source credibility

Brand a:tude

Purchase intent

Word of mouth

Expert sources have the greatest effect on a millennials intent to share

a message by word-of-mouth.

Figure 1: Means for Independent Variables

Findings support the use of social media influencers (SMIs) as key

motivators on social media.
Public relations professionals should focus on building relationships
with online experts in order to manipulate the online conversation
regarding a brand or product.

Hypotheses
H1: Social media users from the millennial generation perceive messages
posted by expert users to be more credible than those posted by
corporations and non-expert users.
H2: Expert-generated content achieves a more positive
brand attitude among millennial social media users than
content shared by non-expert and corporate users.
H3: The purchase intent of millennials exposed to expert-generated
messages will be greater than those exposed to non-expert and corporategenerated content.
H4: The intentions of sharing online messages are greater for millennials
exposed to expert-generated content when compared to non-expert and
corporate-generated content.

References
148

Vorvoreanu, M. (2009). Perceptions of Corporations on Facebook: An

Analysis of Facebook Social Norms. Journal of New Communications
Research, IV(1).

138

Yan, R., Ogle, J. P., & Hyllegard, K. H. (2010). The impact of message
appeal and message
source on Gen Y consumers' attitudes and
purchase intentions toward American Apparel.
Journal of Marketing
Communications, 16(4), 203-224.

127
96
52

Methods
Between-subjects post-test only experimental design
Independent variable: type of source
Dependent variables: source credibility, brand attitude, purchase intent
and word-of-mouth intent
Millennial participants were recruited over a three-week period through
the Louisiana State University Media Effects Lab Research Participation
System.

Discussion and Conclusion

43
21

Instagram Facebook Snapchat Twi6er YouTube Pinterest LinkedIn

19
Blogs

7
Other

Figure 2: Social Media Platforms Participants Indicated As Using

Most Regularly

Acknowledgements
I would like to sincerely thank my thesis director, Dr. Hyojung Park, for
her guidance, dedication and support throughout this study. Her
patience and immense knowledge made this a very enjoyable
experience and I could not have had a better advisor and mentor. I
would also like to thank the rest of my thesis committee: Dr. Jensen
Moore and Dr. Thomas Karam, for their insightful comments and
positivity.