Purpose. The Internet has become a prominent way in which people receive news about current events and scientific research, with the side effect of enabling a dramatic increase in the dissemination of false news reports and pseudoscience. We examine how the credibility of fake news can be affected by: (1) the aesthetics and characteristics of the medium in which fake news is seen, (2) the source of the fake news, and (3) readers’ individual differences. Design/methodology/approach. In a preregistered online experiment, we examined how these variables can influence fake news perception: form of medium (unicast/broadcast) and aesthetic presentation, tie strength to the source of the fake news, and the personality traits of agreeableness and locus of control. Findings. The results showed that credibility increased with aesthetical presentation and when the fake news was unicast. No effects for transmitter tie strength were found. Agreeableness was positively related to credibility, while internal locus of control showed no effects. When aesthetics was included as a moderator, the external locus of control was positively related to credibility. Originality. These results show that social media system designers should consider using aesthetical differences as a design signal for highlighting fake news compared with credible news sources. Furthermore, it may be desirable to limit transmission via a unicast medium to self-entered text instead of aesthetically-enhanced posts that enhance perceptions of credibility. Finally, the results indicate the need for a broad analysis of the mechanisms of fake news.
Krueger et al. (Mon,) studied this question.