Kuczyńska, Marta (2026) The Effects of Perceived Credibility and Similarity of the Messenger on the Cervical Cancer Screening Intention. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Over half a million women are affected by cervical cancer every year, despite research suggesting that it can be prevented through cervical screening. Despite many efforts, the screening rates are suboptimal. It has been suggested that the intention to screen for cervical cancer can be increased by presenting the information by a suitable messenger. The messenger effect suggests that a message is evaluated through the perspective of a messenger. Furthermore the source credibility theory proposes that each messenger can be evaluated on three dimensions: trustworthiness, expertise and similarity. This study was conducted as an online survey experiment. The data was gathered from 370 participants that were biological women between the ages of 18 and 29. Each person was exposed to one, randomly allocated messenger: a healthcare professional (doctor), a governmental health organization (RIVM) or a peer (another woman). Furthermore, each participant was asked what was their intention to participate in cervical cancer screening before and after they saw the messenger. An increase in intention was observed across messenger conditions, however no significant effect was found of the messenger type on the change in intention. Principal Component Analysis suggested that proposed questions reflected two dimensions: credibility and similarity. It has been found that both factors can serve as a predictor of intention change. For the peer messenger, credibility was also found to act as a mediator. The findings provided evidence contradicting the messenger effect and evidence supporting the role of credibility and similarity. The study contributes to the literature gap and makes suggestions for the future research and policy. Keywords: Messenger Effect, Source Credibility Model, Cervical Cancer, Cervical Cancer Screening
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Supervisor name: | Snijders, V. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Feb 2026 11:09 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Feb 2026 11:09 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/6222 |
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