ERIC Number: EJ1338772
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Jun
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0268-1153
EISSN: N/A
Fighting Misinformation on Social Media: Effects of Evidence Type and Presentation Mode
Health Education Research, v37 n3 p185-198 Jun 2022
Designing corrective messages to debunk misinformation online is an important practice toward ending the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic as health-related misinformation has proliferated on social media misguiding disease prevention measures. Despite research on the use of statistical evidence and message modality in persuasion, the effects of evidence type (assertions with versus without statistical evidence) and presentation mode (text-only versus image-only versus text-plus-image) have been understudied. This study examined the impact of evidence type and presentation mode on individuals' responses to corrective messages about COVID-19 on social media. The results showed that the presence of statistical evidence in assertions reduced message elaboration, which in turn reduced the effects of the message in correcting misperceptions, decreased perceived message believability and lowered social media users' intentions to further engage with and disseminate the corrective message. Compared to the text-only modality and the text-plus-image modality, the image-only modality triggered significantly lower levels of message elaboration, which subsequently heightened message believability and increased user engagement intentions. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Descriptors: Social Media, Deception, Computer Mediated Communication, COVID-19, Pandemics, Public Health, Information Sources, Persuasive Discourse, Visual Aids, Error Correction, Misconceptions, Intention, Information Dissemination, Comparative Analysis, Users (Information)
Oxford University Press. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK. Tel: +44-1865-353907; Fax: +44-1865-353485; e-mail: jnls.cust.serv@oxfordjournals.org; Web site: http://her.oxfordjournals.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A