Communicator attractiveness and opinion change.

Presented a tape recorded persuasive communication to 120 college and high school students while a photograph of a man identified as the speaker was projected onto a screen. 3 groups of ss listened to the communication in the presence of either (a) a photograph of an attractive communicator, (b) a photograph of an unattractive communicator, or (c) no photograph at all. 2 additional groups of ss did not listen to the communications, but filled out the postcommunication questionnaire only in the presence of (a) the photograph of the attractive speaker, or (b) the photograph of the unattractive speaker. Attractive male communicators were more persuasive that unattractive male or unpictured communicators. This effect was independent of differences in perceived expertness or trustworthiness of the communicator. Explanations in terms of distraction, contiguous pleasure, and liking are discussed. (french summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)