Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion · chapter 5 · id influence-c5-08-people-associate-messengers-wi

“People associate messengers with their messages -- weather forecasters receive hate mail for bad weather, and bearers of bad news are disliked even when they clearly did not cause the news.”

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Receipts

Manis, Cornell & Moore (1974), Transmission of Attitude-Relevant Information Through a Communication ChainFLAGGED: DOI not in registry

Research on the 'MUM effect' shows people are reluctant to transmit bad news, suggesting awareness that bearers of bad news face negative consequences.

Rosen & Tesser (1970), On Reluctance to Communicate Undesirable Information: The MUM Effect, Sociometry 33(3)DOI registry: valid

People are reluctant to transmit bad news (the MUM effect) in part because recipients associate the messenger with the valence of the message.

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