Explicit persuasive intent and its impact on success at persuasion - The determining roles of attractiveness and likeableness

The effect on the impact of a message of explicitly stating a desire to persuade can depend on the communicator's physical attractiveness. Experiment I confirmed this possibility. Attractive male and female salespersons induced more positive attitudes and stronger intentions to purchase a product when they explicitly stated their desire to influence potential buyers. In contrast, unattractive salespersons were less likely to induce a favorable attitude toward the product under these conditions. Experiment 2 replicated these effects and provided evidence that they are mediated by the attribution of self-serving motives to the salesperson. A 2-step process of impression formation and attribution was used to describe the mechanisms underlying these effects.