Nudge Effect of Fact-Check Alerts: Source Influence and Media Skepticism on Sharing of News Misinformation in Social Media

Abstract

This study extends the nudge principle with media effects and credibility evaluation perspectives to examine whether the effectiveness of fact-check alerts to deter news sharing on social media is moderated by news source and whether this moderation is conditional upon users’ skepticism of mainstream media. Results from a 2 (nudge: fact-check alert vs. no alert) × 2 (news source: legacy mainstream vs. unfamiliar non-mainstream) (N = 929) experiment controlling for individual issue involvement, online news involvement, and news sharing experience revealed significant main and interaction effects from both factors. News sharing likelihood was overall lower for non-mainstream news than mainstream news, but showed a greater decrease for mainstream news when nudged. No conditional moderation from media skepticism was found; instead, users’ skepticism of mainstream media amplified the nudge effect only for news from legacy mainstream media and not unfamiliar non-mainstream source. Theoretical and practical implications on the use of fact-checking and mainstream news sources in social media are discussed.