The effects of news source credibility and fact-checker credibility on users' beliefs and intentions regarding online misinformation

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the extent to which credibility of news sources and fact-checkers individually and jointly influence online users' beliefs and intended behaviors regarding online misinformation. The broader goal is to understand why fact-checking seems to have inconsistent effects on the beliefs and behavioral intentions about disinformation. 10;,An online experiment was conducted in a public health (COVID-19) context with 429 validated participants to test three hypotheses linking the main and interaction effects of two independent variables (news source credibility and fact-checker credibility) on three dependent variables (users' believability, reading intention and sharing intention of online news claims). The data was analyzed using multilevel (fixed effects) models controlling for individual differences, claim differences and order effects.,The author observed a nuanced pattern of effects; news source credibility had a positive main effect on believability but negative effects on reading and sharing intention; fact-checking credibility had a positive main effect on believability, but no effects on reading or sharing intentions, but negatively moderated the effects of source credibility on all three dependent variables.,This paper introduces, conceptualizes and tests whether a more credible fact-checker shapes the beliefs and intentions about online misinformation differently from less credible fact-checkers, especially when examined concurrently with similar effects of the original sources of misinformation claims. Additionally, it suggests that, on average, users have a low perception of credibility for fact-checkers (even reputed ones), which may explain why fact-checking is often ineffective in shaping the beliefs and intended behaviors.