Chapter 8. The effects of using machine translation on perceptions of source credibility

Abstract

Machine translation has great potential for increasing the reach and spread of risk communication in multi-lingual settings. However, the social psychological effects of communicating via machine translation applications remain unknown. This study takes a first step to address this research gap. An online experiment with between-participants design was conducted to investigate the effects of using machine translation on participants’ perceptions of source credibility. Participants were asked to navigate a map of a foreign city and follow the route directions that were given to them by a person in a video either in their first language or using a machine translation application. Regression models were used to analyze task performance, perceptions of task difficulty, and perceptions of source credibility. Contrary to expectations, the results show no significant effect of using machine translation on the perceptions of source credibility. Implications for risk communication and future research are discussed.