Source effects in purchase decisions: The impact of physical attractiveness and accent of salesperson

A study was conducted to examine the impact of salesperson physical attractiveness and accent on receiver purchase intentions. Twenty-four broadcast commercials were produced by manipulating attractiveness and accent factors. Participating in the study were 963 subjects who evaluated the product/service being advertised. Consistent with the argument that if receivers behave according to the physical attractiveness stereotype, they should perceive attractive salespersons more favorably and respond to their sales pitches more readily than they do to unattractive salespersons, purchase intentions were more favorably influenced by attractive salespersons' message. Also, study findings indicate that salespersons with a standard accent or dialect were perceived more favorably and created higher purchase intentions than foreign-accented salespersons. Implications for advertising and personal selling are discussed.