Do We Trust the Crowd? Effects of Crowdsourcing on Perceived Credibility of Online Health Information

• In Event: CAT Interactive Papers #2

Abstract

Conceptualizing crowdsourcing as the system that allows users to collectively serve as the source of the content, this study examined the effects of crowdsourcing and an additional professional source layer on credibility judgments and behavioral intentions toward health messages. A 2 [crowdsourcing] × 2 [professional source] × 2 [Message topic] between-subjects online experiment (N = 189) found two indirect paths for the crowdsourcing effects. The crowd-as-source path suggests that crowdsourcing negatively affects content credibility and behavioral intentions through decreased perceived source trustworthiness and information completeness. In contrast, the self-as-source path indicates that crowdsourcing may have positive effects on perceived source trustworthiness via heightened perceived interactivity and sense of control. Finally, although the additional professional source on crowdsourcing sites raises perceived gatekeeping on the site, it does not have substantial influence on credibility judgments. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Authors

• Yan Huang, The Pennsylvania State University

• S. Shyam Sundar, Pennsylvania State U and Sungkyunkwan Univ