Dynamic source credibility and its impacts on knowledge revision.

Corrections to readers' misconceptions should result in higher belief when information sources are of high credibility. However, evaluations of credibility may be malleable, and we do not yet fully understand how changes to a source's credibility influence readers' credibility evaluations and knowledge revision outcomes. Thus, in two experiments, we examined how updating a source's credibility (Experiment 1: initially neutral sources later updated to be high-, low-, or neutral-credibility sources; Experiment 2: initially high- or low-credibility sources later updated to be low- or high-credibility sources) influenced knowledge revision and source credibility evaluations after readers engaged with refutation and non-refutation texts. Results showed that readers revised their credibility judgments from neutral-, high-, and low-credibility initial evaluations, indicating that source judgments are malleable rather than fixed. In addition, refutations from sources that are later revealed to be of high credibility can facilitate revision of both knowledge and initial source credibility evaluations.

Using Short-Form Videos to Get Clinical Trial Newcomers to Sign Up: Message-Testing Experiment.

BACKGROUND: Recruiting participants for clinical trials poses challenges. Major barriers to participation include psychological factors (eg, fear and mistrust) and logistical constraints (eg, transportation, cost, and scheduling). The strategic design of clinical trial messaging can help overcome these barriers. While strategic communication can be done through various channels (eg, recruitment advertisements), health care providers on the internet have been found to be key sources for communicating clinical trial information to US adults in the social media era. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine how communication source (ie, medical doctors and peers) and message framing of TikTok videos (ie, psychological and logistical framing) influence clinical trial-related attitudes, perceptions, and sign-up behaviors under the guidance of the integrated behavioral model. METHODS: This study used a 2 (source: doctor vs peer) × 2 (framing: psychological vs logistical) between-participant factorial design web-based experiment targeting adults in the United States who had never participated in clinical trials (ie, newcomers). A Qualtrics panel was used to recruit and compensate the study respondents (n=561). Participants viewed short-form videos with doctors or peers, using psychological or logistical framing. The main outcome measures included perceived source credibility, self-efficacy, attitude toward clinical trial participation, behavioral intention, and sign-up behavior. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the direct and indirect effects of message factors on the outcome variables. Source (doctor=1; peer=0) and framing (psychological=1; logistical=0) were dummy-coded. RESULTS: Doctor-featured messages led to greater perceived source credibility (ß=.31, P<.001), leading to greater self-efficacy (95% CI 0.13-0.30), which in turn enhanced behavioral intention (95% CI 0.12-0.29) and clinical trial sign-up behavior (95% CI 0.02-0.04). Logistical barrier-framed messages led to greater self-efficacy (ß=-.09, P=.02), resulting in higher intention to participate in clinical trials (95% CI -0.38 to -0.03) and improved sign-up behavior (95% CI -0.06 to -0.004). Logistical barrier-framed messages were also directly associated with an increased likelihood of signing up for a clinical trial (ß=-.08, P=.03). The model accounted for 21% of the variance in clinical trial sign-up behavior. Attitude did not significantly affect behavioral intention in this study (ß=.08, P=.14), and psychological and logistical barrier-framed messages did not significantly differ in attitudes toward clinical trial participation (ß=-.04, P=.09). CONCLUSIONS: These findings advance our understanding of how people process popular message characteristics in short-form videos and lend practical guidance for communicators. We encourage medical professionals to consider short-form video sites (eg, TikTok and Instagram Reels) as effective tools for discussing clinical trials and participation opportunities. Specifically, featuring doctors discussing efforts to reduce logistical barriers is recommended. Our measuring of actual behavior as an outcome is a rare and noteworthy contribution to this research.

Mechanisms in continued influence: The impact of misinformation corrections on source perceptions.

Research on the continued influence effect (CIE) of misinformation has demonstrated that misinformation continues to influence people's beliefs and judgments even after it has been corrected. Although most theorizing about the CIE attempts to explain why corrections do not eliminate belief in and influences of the misinformation, the present research takes a different approach and focuses instead on why corrections do reduce belief in misinformation (even if not entirely). We examined how a correction can change perceptions of the original source of the misinformation and how these changes in perceptions can mediate continued influence effects. We also examined causal evidence linking manipulations of misinformation source perceptions to continued belief and misinformation-relevant inferential reasoning. Study 1 demonstrated that an external correction (i.e., a new source labeling misinformation as false) influences perceptions of the misinformation source, and these perceptions of the misinformation source then correlated with belief in the misinformation. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 and used source derogation to manipulate misinformation source perceptions and further lessen continued belief. Study 3 was a preregistered replication of previous results using new methodology. These studies suggest that perceptions of the misinformation source is one mechanism that can cause changes in belief in misinformation, and changes in the perception of a source can be achieved simply by correcting the source or through other means. This approach can be used to find other mechanisms responsible for reducing belief in misinformation.

The combined effect of front-of-package labels and influencer recommendations on food choice decisions.

Many governments have adopted front-of-pack nutrition labels (FOP labels) that give advice about how healthy a product is. An increasing number of digital food influencers are also informing consumers about the nutritional quality of products and promoting healthy consumption. In this context, the current study analyzes how both sources of information come together to affect purchase intention. Drawing on congruence theory, we propose that the influencer's recommendation reinforces the effect of the FOP label when there is congruence between the two; however, consumers clearly prefer to follow the recommendation of the influencer over the FOP label when the information sources are non-congruent. We develop a between-subjects experimental design in which the level of congruence between the two information sources is manipulated. The effect of the influencer on purchase intention is mediated by the credibility of the FOP label. A second study confirms the superiority of the influencer effect observed in the first study.

Understanding Health Empowerment From the Perspective of Information Processing: Questionnaire Study.

BACKGROUND: Massive, easily accessible online health information empowers users to cope with health problems better. Most patients search for relevant online health information before seeing a doctor to alleviate information asymmetry. However, the mechanism of how online health information affects health empowerment is still unclear. OBJECTIVE: To study how online health information processing affects health empowerment. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study that included 343 samples from participants who had searched online health information before the consultation. Respondents' perceptions of online information cues, benefits, health literacy, and health empowerment were assessed. RESULTS: Perceived argument quality and perceived source credibility have significant and positive effects on perceived information benefits, but only perceived argument quality has a significant effect on perceived decision-making benefits. Two types of perceived benefits, in turn, affect health empowerment. The effects of perceived argument quality on perceived informational benefits and perceived decision-making benefits on health empowerment are significantly stronger for the high health literacy group than the low health literacy group (t269=7.156, P<.001; t269=23.240, P<.001). While, the effects of perceived source credibility on perceived informational benefits and perceived informational benefits on health empowerment are significantly weaker for the high health literacy group than the low health literacy group (t269=-10.497, P<.001; t269=-6.344, P<.001). The effect of perceived argument quality on perceived informational benefits shows no significant difference between high and low health literacy groups. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of online health information, perceived information benefits and perceived decision-making benefits are the antecedents of health empowerment, which in turn will be affected by perceived argument quality and perceived source credibility. Health literacy plays a moderating role in the relationship of some variables. To maximize health empowerment, online health information providers should strengthen information quality and provide differentiated information services based on users' health literacy.

Forming and updating vaccination beliefs: does the continued effect of misinformation depend on what we think we know?

People may cling to false facts even in the face of updated and correct information. The present study confronted misconceptions about the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and a novel, fictitious Zika vaccine. Two experiments are reported, examining misconceptions as motivated by a poor risk understanding (Experiment 1, N = 130) or the exposure to conspiracy theories (Experiment 2, N = 130). Each experiment featured a Misinformation condition, wherein participants were presented with fictitious stories containing some misinformation (Experiment 1) and rumours focused on conspiracy theories (Experiment 2) that were later retracted by public health experts and a No misinformation condition, containing no reference to misinformation and rumours. Across experiments, participants were more hesitant towards vaccines when exposed to stories including vaccine misinformation. Notwithstanding, our results suggest a positive impact of a trusted source communicating the scientific consensus about vaccines. Zika virus represents a particular case showing how missing information can easily evolve into misinformation. Implications for effective dissemination of information are discussed.

Looking at young millennials' risk perception and purchase intention toward GM foods: Exploring the role of source credibility and risk attitude.

This study investigated young millennials' risk perception, benefit perception, and purchase intention toward GM foods by testing the effects of source credibility and risk attitude. By comparing two samples collected in the U.S. (N = 207) and China (N = 242), we found that source credibility positively influenced benefit perceptions of GM foods among Chinese millennial consumers. Results also revealed risk attitude significantly influenced both American and Chinese millennial consumers' intention to purchase GM foods. Furthermore, a significant interaction effect between source credibility and risk attitude was found on Chinese millennial consumers' risk perception of GM foods.

Negative news dominates fast and slow brain responses and social judgments even after source credibility evaluation.

Remedies to counter the impact of misinformation are in high demand, but little is known about the neuro-cognitive consequences of untrustworthy information and how they can be mitigated. In this preregistered study, we investigated the effects of social-emotional headline contents on social judgments and brain responses and whether they can be modulated by explicit evaluations of the trustworthiness of the media source. Participants (N = 30) evaluated -and clearly discerned- the trustworthiness of news sources before they were exposed to person-related news headlines. Despite this intervention, social judgments and brain responses were dominated largely by emotional headline contents. Results suggest differential effects of source credibility might depend on headline valence. Electrophysiological indexes of fast emotional and arousal-related brain responses, as well as correlates of slow evaluative processing were enhanced for persons associated with positive headline contents from trusted sources, but not when positive headlines stemmed from distrusted sources. In contrast, negative headlines dominated fast and slow brain responses unaffected by explicit source credibility evaluations. These results provide novel insights into the brain mechanisms underlying the "success" of emotional news from untrustworthy sources, suggesting a pronounced susceptibility to negative information even from distrusted sources that is reduced for positive contents. The differential pattern of responses to misinformation in mind and brain sheds light on the cognitive mechanisms underlying the processing of misinformation and possible strategies to avoid their potentially detrimental effects.

Can you believe it? An investigation into the impact of retraction source credibility on the continued influence effect.

The continued influence effect refers to the finding that people often continue to rely on misinformation in their reasoning even if the information has been retracted. The present study aimed to investigate the extent to which the effectiveness of a retraction is determined by its credibility. In particular, we aimed to scrutinize previous findings suggesting that perceived trustworthiness but not perceived expertise of the retraction source determines a retraction's effectiveness, and that continued influence arises only if a retraction is not believed. In two experiments, we found that source trustworthiness but not source expertise indeed influences retraction effectiveness, with retractions from low-trustworthiness sources entirely ineffective. We also found that retraction belief is indeed a predictor of continued reliance on misinformation, but that substantial continued influence effects can still occur with retractions designed to be and rated as highly credible.

Source memory for advertisements: The role of advertising message credibility.

Advertising is seen as an untrustworthy source because of the perceived self-interest of the advertisers in presenting product information in a biased or misleading way. Regulations require advertising messages in print and online media to be labeled as advertisements to allow recipients to take source information into account when judging the credibility of the messages. To date, little is known about how these source tags are remembered. Research within the source-monitoring framework suggests that source attributions are not only based on veridical source memory but are often reconstructed through schematic guessing. In two experiments, we examined how the credibility of advertising messages affects these source attribution processes. The source of the messages affected judgments of credibility at the time of encoding, but the source tags were forgotten after a short period of time. Retrospective source attributions in the absence of memory for the source tags were strongly influenced by the a priori credibility of the messages: Statements with a low a priori credibility were more likely to be (mis)attributed to advertising than statements with high a priori credibility. These findings suggest that the mere labeling of untrustworthy sources is of limited use because source information is quickly forgotten and memory-based source attributions are strongly biased by schematic influences.

The effects of source expertise and trustworthiness on recollection: the case of vaccine misinformation.

Designing effective communication strategies for correcting vaccines misinformation requires an understanding of how the target group might react to information from different sources. The present study examined whether erroneous inferences about vaccination could be effectively corrected by a perceived credible (i.e. expert or trustworthy) source. Two experiments are reported using a standard continued influence paradigm, each featuring two correction conditions on vaccine misinformation. Participants were presented with a story containing a piece of information that was later retracted by a perceived credible or not so credible source. Experiment 1 showed that providing a correction reduced participants' use of the original erroneous information, yet the overall reliance on misinformation did not significantly differ between the low- and high-expertise correction groups. Experiment 2 revealed that a correction from a high-trustworthy source decreased participants' reliance on misinformation when making inferences; nonetheless, it did not positively affect the reported intent to vaccinate one's child. Overall, source trustworthiness was more relevant than source expertise.

OTC drug advertising in Japan: the role of need for cognition and celebrity endorser credibility.

This research explores how the level of consumers' need for cognition (NFC) is associated with celebrity endorser credibility and examines its effects on advertising-related attitudes. A 3 (endorser types: actor/actress, athlete, TV personality/talent) × 2 (endorser's gender) factorial experiment with 435 Japanese consumers was conducted. Concerning Japanese OTC drug advertising, lower NFC individuals perceived celebrity endorsers as more credible in comparison to higher NFC individuals. The main effects of NFC and endorser type on endorser credibility existed; however, no interaction between the two variables was found. The endorser type had an influence on attitudes toward ads and the advertised brand.

How to encourage non-donors to be more willing to donate blood? Testing of binding communication based interventions.

OBJECTIVES: Our study aims to test the effectiveness of binding communication based interventions (vs classical persuasive communication based ones) inciting non-donors to act in favour of blood donation. BACKGROUND: The implementation of effective communication interventions represents a major public health issue. Nevertheless, persuasive media campaigns appear to have little effect on behaviours. Even though non-donors hold a positive attitude towards blood donation, they are not inclined to donate. As an alternative to producing behavioural changes, many recent studies have shown the superiority of binding communication over persuasive communication. METHODS: All participants, non-donors, were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions of a 2 (type of communication: persuasive vs binding) × 2 (source credibility: low vs high) factorial design. Then, they were asked to report their intention to donate blood, and their intention to distribute leaflets regarding blood donation. RESULTS: Binding communication is a more effective strategy for increasing intention towards blood donation compared with persuasive communication, especially when combined with high credibility source. DISCUSSION: Accordingly this study calls for more consideration of knowledge of social psychology to design effective communication interventions and increase the number of donations.

Selling Health to the Distracted: Consumer Responses to Source Credibility and Ad Appeal Type in a Direct-to-Consumer Advertisement.

Since 1997, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first allowed prescription drug companies to release ads directly targeting the public, direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising has become an integral part of the pharmaceutical industry marketing toolkit, reaching over $4 billion in 2005. In an experiment where cognitive load, a task that requires the investment of a subject's memory in an unrelated task; source credibility; and advertising appeal type (affective or cognitive) were manipulated, attitude toward the ad was measured for a print DTC meningitis vaccine ad. Main effect results for source credibility and advertising appeal type on attitude toward the ad were found, and interactions between manipulated variables were apparent when the individual difference variables related to a specific illness (vaccination history, living in a dorm, family members or friends who had suffered the illness) were taken into account.

Credibility of misinformation source moderates the effectiveness of corrective messages on social media.

To examine how different features of corrective messages moderate individuals' attitudes toward misinformation on social media, a 2 (misinformation source credibility: high vs low) × 2 (corrective message source: algorithmic vs peer correction) × 2 (correction type: factual elaboration vs simple rebuttal) between-subjects experiment was conducted. To reduce perceived credibility and respondents' attitudes toward the misinformation, peer corrections were more effective than algorithmic corrections for misinformation from a source with lower credibility; for misinformation from a highly credible source, the superiority effect of peer corrections was still significant on perceived credibility but not on respondents' attitudes toward the misinformation. For the fact-checking tendency, we did not find a robust effect about how different features of corrective messages interacted. Our findings provide important insights into message design in combatting misinformation on social media.

The effects of self-disclosure and gender on a climate scientist's credibility and likability on social media.

To examine whether different types of disclosure made by climate scientists on social media influence perceived source credibility (i.e. competence, integrity, benevolence) and likability, we conducted a 2 (self-disclosure type: personal vs political) × 3 (proportion of posts including a self-disclosure: 20% vs 50% vs 80%) × 2 (gender identity of scientist: male vs female) between-subjects experiment (N = 734). We found that people liked the scientist more for a personal than political disclosure, rated them as being more competent for a political disclosure, and liked a female scientist more than a male scientist. However, scientist's gender did not moderate the effect of disclosure type or the effect of participants' gender. Our results suggest distinct benefits when scientists deliver different types of messages on social media, although disclosure is unlikely to have substantial effects on lay judgments of scientists' credibility.

From Screen to Table: How Douyin Food Bloggers Stimulate and Convert Viewer Interests.

In the era of social media, the influence of food exploration bloggers is increasingly apparent. Sharing their culinary experiences stimulates the audience's interest in visiting and consuming food destinations. This paper seeks to understand how the characteristics of food exploration bloggers on the Douyin platform influence audience perceptions of food and locations and how these perceptions may relate to visiting intentions, using the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model. A cross-sectional online survey analyzed responses from 437 individuals interested in food exploration videos on Douyin. The results indicate that source credibility is significantly associated with the stimulation of taste desires and the formation of taste awareness. The audience's taste desire and taste awareness are positively linked to the intention to visit. This study contributes to the expansion of the SOR model's application in digital media, underscoring the substantial role of social media in influencing audience consumption intentions. It highlights that as an effective communication tool, social media can significantly impact users' behavioral responses and consumption decisions.

Does source matter? Examining the effects of health experts, friends, and social media influencers on young adult perceptions of Instagram e-cigarette education messages.

PURPOSE: Young adults' e-cigarette use is a leading public health concern. Using messages from credible sources can help improve message acceptance, yet little research has examined the role of source credibility on young adults' responses to e-cigarette education messages. METHODS: We examined the impact of source on young adults' perceptions of e-cigarette education messages and e-cigarettes. In July 2022, we conducted an experimental study using an online sample of young adults (N=459, Mage=24.6) who were randomized to one of three source conditions: expert, friend, or influencer, and viewed e-cigarette education messages. We used one-way ANOVA to estimate the association between the conditions and outcomes (perceived source credibility, message trust, curiosity, use interests, perceived message effectiveness, beliefs, harm perceptions, and intentions to refrain). RESULTS: The expert condition was associated with significantly higher perceived source credibility (vs. friend, influencer; p<0.001), message trust (vs. friend, influencer; p<0.001), and curiosity (vs. influencer; p's<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Public health campaigns may leverage health experts to deliver e-cigarette education messages targeting young adults to improve effectiveness of the messages.

An Empirical Investigation into the Impact of Social Media Fitness Videos on Users' Exercise Intentions.

Social media fitness influencers are driving the maturation of online fitness, which is especially significant in the current era of globally decreasing levels of physical activity. However, there is a paucity of research on online fitness videos, and the mechanism of influence of fitness videos on exercise intention is not well understood. Therefore, based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theoretical framework, this study extends the source credibility theory to the field of fitness and adds an examination of the content quality and electronic word-of-mouth of fitness videos to explore how fitness videos motivate users to participate in physical exercise. Through an online survey, 367 valid samples were collected and validated using a structural equation model. The results showed that the three elements contained in source credibility theory have inconsistent importance in the fitness field, with trustworthiness being the most important, followed by attractiveness, and the influence of expertise is not significant. In summary, the attributes of social media fitness influencers, including trustworthiness and physical attractiveness, as well as the content quality and electronic word-of-mouth of their fitness videos, may lead to viewers' trust and perception of the usefulness of the videos and, furthermore, lead to exercise intention.

How Can Restaurant Companies Effectively Deliver CSR Efforts to Consumers on Social Media?

This study emphasized the source credibility effect on consumers' responses to restaurant companies' CSR efforts on social media. Based on the source credibility brand development process (i.e., brand trust, brand affect, and brand engagement), this study employed an online survey-based experiment and revealed the meaningful associations among types of CSR posters (a restaurant brand vs. a nonprofit organization), brand trust, brand affect, and brand engagement. The empirical results indicated that the nonprofit organization has higher significant effects on brand trust and brand affect than those of the restaurant brand. Additionally, in the case of the nonprofit organization, the effects of brand trust and brand affect on brand engagement were significantly stronger than that of the restaurant brand. Based on the empirical findings, this study provided several theoretical and managerial implications for restaurant companies' CSR communication on social media.