Role of affect in marketplace rumor propagation
02 Sep 2019-Marketing Intelligence & Planning (Emerald Publishing Limited)-Vol. 37, Iss: 6, pp 631-644
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the role of positive affect and negative affect in rumor sharing behavior among consumers and found that positive affect has a stronger influence on rumor sharing as compared to negative affect.
Abstract: Rumors about products and brands are common occurrence in the marketplace. Often these rumors are shared among consumers using the word of mouth channel. The spread of these rumors is fast and can lead to significant consequences to products and brands. The purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics of such rumor sharing behavior among consumers. Specifically, this paper investigates the role of positive affect and negative affect in rumor sharing behavior. Three key rumor characteristics (valence, involvement and credibility) are explored as antecedents to positive affect and negative affect.,The paper collects data from 236 respondents using Amazon MTurk, and conducts a PLS–SEM analysis to explore the role of positive affect and negative affect in rumor sharing contexts.,Both positive affect and negative affect were found to be significant factors leading to rumor sharing, furthermore positive affect was found to have a stronger influence on rumor sharing as compared to negative affect. The study also delineates the role of valence, involvement and credibility in rumor sharing scenarios, all of which have a strong role in shaping positive affect and negative affect.,The study is novel in using cognitive appraisal theory to illustrate the formation of positive affect and negative affect in rumor encounters. The study conclusively illustrates the role of cognitive appraisal and emotional experiences in the rumor propagation context, and advances the marketing scholarship’s understanding significantly.
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TL;DR: The authors found that people are much more likely to believe stories that favor their preferred candidate, especially if they have ideologically segregated social media networks, and that the average American adult saw on the order of one or perhaps several fake news stories in the months around the 2016 U.S. presidential election, with just over half of those who recalled seeing them believing them.
Abstract: Following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, many have expressed concern about the effects of false stories (“fake news”), circulated largely through social media. We discuss the economics of fake news and present new data on its consumption prior to the election. Drawing on web browsing data, archives of fact-checking websites, and results from a new online survey, we find: (i) social media was an important but not dominant source of election news, with 14 percent of Americans calling social media their “most important” source; (ii) of the known false news stories that appeared in the three months before the election, those favoring Trump were shared a total of 30 million times on Facebook, while those favoring Clinton were shared 8 million times; (iii) the average American adult saw on the order of one or perhaps several fake news stories in the months around the election, with just over half of those who recalled seeing them believing them; and (iv) people are much more likely to believe stories that favor their preferred candidate, especially if they have ideologically segregated social media networks.
3,959 citations
TL;DR: It appears that trust in HOFN varies with environmental cues (regional pandemic severity) and with individuals' perceived control, providing insight into developing coping strategies during a pandemic.
Abstract: PurposeHealth-related online fake news (HOFN) has become a major social problem. HOFN can lead to the spread of ineffective and even harmful remedies. The study aims to understand Internet users' responses to HOFN during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic using the protective action decision model (PADM).Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected pandemic severity data (regional number of confirmed cases) from government websites of the USA and China (Studies 1 and 2), search behavior from Google and Baidu search engines (Studies 1 and 2) and data regarding trust in two online fake news stories from two national surveys (Studies 2 and 3). All data were analyzed using a multi-level linear model.FindingsThe research detected negative time-lagged relationships between pandemic severity and regional HOFN search behavior by three actual fake news stories from the USA and China (Study 1). Importantly, trust in HOFN served as a mediator in the time-lagged relationship between pandemic severity and search behavior (Study 2). Additionally, the relationship between pandemic severity and trust in HOFN varied according to individuals' perceived control (Study 3).Originality/valueThe authors' results underscore the important role of PADM in understanding Internet users' trust in and search for HOFN. When people trust HOFN, they may seek more information to implement further protective actions. Importantly, it appears that trust in HOFN varies with environmental cues (regional pandemic severity) and with individuals' perceived control, providing insight into developing coping strategies during a pandemic.
8 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed an extension to TAM to analyse the significance of monetary benefits and information reliability on customers' intention to use social media, while information reliability and monetary benefits significantly influence only through perceived usefulness.
Abstract: The present study intends to shed light on behaviour of customers towards usage of social media for purchasing decisions. The study proposes an extension to technology acceptance model (TAM) to analyse the significance of monetary benefits and information reliability on customers' intention to use social media.,The sample was drawn from social media users of north-western region of India (n = 622). The proposed model was tested using exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.,Results indicate that monetary benefits and perceived ease of use have significant influence on customers' intention to use social media, while information reliability and monetary benefits significantly influence only through perceived usefulness.,The findings are valuable to marketers to acknowledge the potential of social media to reach to masses by providing timely and reliable information. The study also reveals that website/app developers should implement a user-friendly interface and reliable content to influence customers' usage behaviour.,The study is a unique attempt to examine the effect of monetary benefits and information reliability with TAM's key constructs in the context of social media adoption. Studies undertaken aforementioned dimensions are mainly concerned with examining direct contribution of social media and its effect on purchase decisions.
6 citations
TL;DR: This article provided a systematic and structured overview of the factors that influence the spread of misinformation by analyzing the four vital elements of information communication, namely, source, message, context, and receiver.
6 citations
References
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TL;DR: The authors examined the factors that influence and the psychological processes that underlie country-of-origin evaluations and found that when consumers use country of origin as a basis for judgment under low motivation, or when the processing goal is to evaluate the country OFI, they focus on the countryOFI information.
Abstract: Two experiments examined the factors that influence and the psychological processes that underlie country‐of‐origin evaluations. Subjects received attribute information that was either condensed in a single product or dispersed across several products manufactured in a country with relatively unfavorable associations. When consumers use country of origin as a basis for judgment under low motivation, or when the processing goal is to evaluate the country of origin, they focus on the country‐of‐origin information. Under such conditions, relevant evidence about the country of origin provided by dispersed information is likely to affect country‐of‐origin evaluations. In contrast, if consumers do not focus on the country of origin, such as under high motivation, or if their processing goal directs their attention away from country‐of‐origin information, any evidence about the country of origin is less likely to be utilized in their judgments. Findings from two experiments are consistent with this theorizing an...
328 citations
TL;DR: A review of past research reveals apparent gaps in many current measures of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) including the Bradburn (1969) Affect Balance subscales popular among gerontologists and other social scientists as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A review of past research reveals apparent gaps in many current measures of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) including the Bradburn (1969) Affect Balance subscales popular among gerontologists and other social scientists. In many cases, the measures produce PA/NA correlations so high that some researchers claim subjective well-being is unidimensional. A viable alternative measure of positive and negative affect is the PANAS (Watson, Clark, and Tellegen 1988), which appears to distinguish clearly between these two emotional dimensions of subjective well-being. Unfortunately, however, only younger samples have served as subjects in research on the PANAS. Accordingly, the current study assessed the psychometric qualities of the PANAS applied to a sample of the old-old. Consistent with prior studies of younger samples, the results here clearly support the viability of the measure among the elderly. Of particular significance, the PA and NA dimensions appear completely independent of each other. M...
323 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that people evaluate their control over events and over feelings separately with respect to both positive and negative experiences and that people make separate self-evaluations of control regarding their ability to avoid negative outcomes, cope with negative outcomes and obtain positive outcomes, and savor positive outcomes.
Abstract: This study provides evidence that people evaluate their control over events and over feelings separately with respect to both positive and negative experiences Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that subjects made separate self-evaluations of control regarding their ability to (a) avoid negative outcomes, (b) cope with negative outcomes, (c) obtain positive outcomes, and (d) savor positive outcomes In addition, beliefs about avoiding and obtaining were more highly correlated (r = 50) than were beliefs about coping and savoring (r= 27) It is argued that coping and savoring involve different sets of cognitive and behavioral skills Multiple regression analyses generally indicated that beliefs about avoiding and coping related more strongly to measures of subjective distress, whereas beliefs about obtaining and strongly related more strongly to measures of subjective well-being These four control beliefs are discussed in relation to other conceptual models of control, and ways in which savoring may promote perceived control are described
262 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an improved consumer involvement measure that can be applied across a number of product categories is presented. But the authors focus on reducing a list of 22 items to a final list of 6 items.
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TL;DR: In this article, social and situational factors influencing the evaluation and communication of information labeled as rumor have been examined, and the interpersonal consequences of spreading negative and positive rumors were examined in a field survey and two experiments.
141 citations