News Influence Perception on Social Media: Exploring the Predictors and Outcomes of Presumed Media Influence

• In Event: HIGH-DENSITY: Communicating Interpersonally Digitally and Online

Abstract

Relying on the Presumed Media Influence (PMI) model, this study investigates whether source cues and social cues of news article on social media can predict an individual’s perception of news influence and related behavior. This study conducted an online-based experiment to augment the ecological validity of using Facebook with a 2 (news source: Fox vs. MSNBC) x 2 (level of exposure: high vs. low) experimental design. Results revealed that the more positively one estimates the influence of news article on the public, the more likely he or she is to engage in communicative behavior on social media to express his or her own voice. Also, the political congruence between one’s own and news source was found to determine the direction of PMI whereas the extent to which news article is exposed to the public did not predict the strength of PMI. Findings of PMI’s indirect effect and implications are discussed.

Author

• Hye Min Kim, U of Southern California - Annenberg School for Communicaiton