Seeking Formula for Misinformation Treatment in Public Health Crises: The Effects of Corrective Information Type and Source

• In Event: Issues and Crises in Health Communication

Abstract

One fundamental challenge in today’s spread of information relates to an increasing lack of communicative truthfulness. Although the concept of misinformation has gained momentum in communication science, so far little is known about debunking misinformation during emerging public-health crises. As misinformation is often unavoidable and highly consequential during crises, we rely on an experiment (N=700) to seek a formula for misinformation treatment. We varied respondents’ exposure to type (simple rebuttal, factual elaboration) and source (government health agency, news media, peer) of corrective information after exposure to misinformation. Results show that presence of corrective information can debunk incorrect beliefs based on misinformation and exposure to factual elaboration can stimulate peoples’ intention to take protective actions. Moreover, especially government agency and news media were found to be successful in improving individuals’ belief accuracy. To explore the underlying mechanism behind the effect of corrective information, the mediating role of crisis emotions was observed.

Author

• Toni G.L.A. van der Meer, University of Amsterdam