Susceptibility to authority figures in advertising with persuasive strategies – age differences in perception

Lyubomira Spasova ()
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Lyubomira Spasova: Department of Social Sciences and Business Language Training, Faculty of Economics, Trakia University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

Business & Management Compass, 2025, issue 3, 33-47

Abstract: Background and aim:Advertising effectiveness depends on consumers’ susceptibility to persuasive strategies, which varies across age and psychological characteristics. This study investigated age-related differences in responses to authority-based advertising, focusing on three types of authority representations: aggressive, romantic, and competent. The aim was to identify how these authority cues interact with age to influence perception, engagement, and persuasion.Methods:The study employed an adapted Susceptibility to Persuasive Strategies Scale (STPS), including authority-specific, unity, and social proof items. Participants were exposed to experimental advertising stimuli featuring the three authority types. One-way ANOVA and MANOVA analyzed differences between age groups, while reliability analyses confirmed the robustness of the adapted scale (Cronbach’s alpha: overall α = 0.795; authority α = 0.76; subscales 0.58–0.65 acceptable).Results:ANOVA revealed that participants aged 56–65 exhibited the highest overall sensitivity to authority cues, 21–24-year-olds showed strong responses to unity effects, and social proof susceptibility peaked in the 46–55 age group. MANOVA confirmed significant multivariate differences (Wilk’s Lambda = 0.72,F = 5.27, p

Keywords: persuasive strategies; authority; social proof; unity; STPS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D3 D4 M37 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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