Abstract
AbstractWe examined how age and exposure to different types of COVID-19 (mis)information affect misinformation beliefs, perceived credibility of the message and intention-to-share it on WhatsApp. Through two mixed-design online experiments in the UK and Brazil (total N = 1454) we first randomly exposed adult WhatsApp users to full misinformation, partial misinformation, or full truth about the therapeutic powers of garlic to cure COVID-19. We then exposed all participants to corrective information from the World Health Organisation debunking this claim. We found stronger misinformation beliefs among younger adults (18–54) in both the UK and Brazil and possible backfire effects of corrective information among older adults (55+) in the UK. Corrective information from the WHO was effective in enhancing perceived credibility and intention-to-share of accurate information across all groups in both countries. Our findings call for evidence-based infodemic interventions by health agencies, with greater engagement of younger adults in pandemic misinformation management efforts.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
General Economics, Econometrics and Finance,General Psychology,General Social Sciences,General Arts and Humanities,General Business, Management and Accounting
Reference71 articles.
1. ABC (2020) UNICEF warns of scam coronavirus messages circulating through social media. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/unicef-warns-scam-coronavirus-messages-circulating-social-media/story?id=69486041. Accessed 12 Jan 2021
2. Adams RM, Karlin B, Eisenman DP et al. (2017) Who participates in the Great ShakeOut? Why audience segmentation is the future of disaster preparedness campaigns. Int J Environ Res Public Health 14(11):1407–1419. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14111407
3. Ale V (2020) A library-based model for explaining information exchange on Coronavirus disease in Nigeria. Ianna J Interdiscipl Stud 2(1):1–11
4. Appelman A, Sundar SS (2016) Measuring message credibility: scale construction and validation with news stories. Journal Mass Commun Quart 93(1):59–79
5. AS-COA (2020) The Coronavirus in Latin America. https://www.as-coa.org/articles/coronavirus-latin-america. Accessed 12 Jan 2021
Cited by
52 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献