The Development of a Measure of Perceived Homophily in Interpersonal Communication

Abstract

This paper reports the development of a measure of perceived homophily. In both an initial investigation and in four subsequent studies employing samples from diverse populations. four dimensions of response were observed. These dimensions were labeled Attitude. Morality, Appearance, and Background. Additional results indicated that opinion leaders are perceived as more homophilous than non-opinion leaders on the dimensions of Attitude. Morality, and Background. The scales found to measure these dimensions are suggested for consideration by researchers concerned with homophily or interpersonal similarity in human communication.

Race, homophily, and purchase intentions and the Black consumer

“…Research investigating homophily in advertising has been limited (e.g., McCroskey, Richmond, & Daly, 1975;Robertson, 1971;Rogers, 1983); however, the findings of this research have been consistent with the sales literature. Specifically, when actors in advertisements are perceived by consumers as homophilous, the advertisements are more effective in attitude development or change.…”

“…One ad used a white couple as product spokespersons and the second ad featured a black couple. The use of both genders within the advertisements was to control for gender bias that may have been present among the study's participants (McCroskey et al, 1975). Care was taken in the construction of these ads to ensure that the ad setting, actors' physical size, facial expressions, and clothing were similar.…”

Living with robots : investigating the user acceptance of social robots in domestic environments

“…In this hypothesis, similarity (real or perceived) of personality is considered to be a major determinant of likeability and relationship choice (McCroskey, Richmond, & Daly, 1975). Since Newcomb's (1956) discovery, research found over and over again that the more similar someone's attitudes are to our own, the more likeable you will find the person.…”

Does Your Facebook Profile Help You or Harm You? Examining the Effect of Information Seeking Strategies on Relational Outcomes in Social Networking Sites

“…Similarity was measured by using the attitudinal homophily dimension from the revised and updated perceived homophily measure proposed by Mccroskey, Mccroskey, and Richmond (2006). The original scale (Mccroskey, Richmond, & Daly, 1975) was revised to increase the reliability estimates of the attitudinal and background homophily dimensions of the scale. Instead of just four items, the new scale has nine items and five reverse coded items that measure attitudinal homophily.…”