The Influence of Source Credibility and Information Quality on Follower Trust

Abstract

This study aims to determine the influence of source credibility and information quality—both individually and simultaneously—on public trust in the Instagram content of Komnas HAM (@komnasham). In the digital era, social media has become a communication channel for state institutions, making message quality and sender credibility crucial factors. This study employs a quantitative explanatory approach, collecting data via questionnaires distributed to active Instagram users ranging from adolescents to young adults. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample, and data analysis was conducted using multiple linear regression with SPSS software. The results demonstrate that source credibility has a positive and significant effect on public trust. Information quality is also shown to have a positive and significant impact on public trust. Simultaneously, both variables significantly influence public trust. The coefficient of determination (R²) of 61.9% indicates that the variation in public trust can be explained by the combined influence of source credibility and information quality, while the remainder is attributed to factors outside the scope of this study. Between the two variables, information quality makes a slightly more dominant contribution than source credibility, although both exert a nearly equal influence. Overall, these findings confirm the relevance of Source Credibility Theory and the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory. Communicator attributes-expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness (source credibility)-combined with accurate and comprehensive message content, prove to be vital stimuli in shaping the public trust response on social media