Encountering misinformation online: antecedents of trust and distrust and their impact on the intensity of Facebook use

PurposeThis study focused on the impact of misinformation on social networking sites. Through theorizing and integrating literature from interdisciplinary fields such as information behavior, communication and relationship management, this study explored how misinformation on Facebook influences use...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inOnline information review Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 372 - 388
Main Authors Cheng, Yang, Chen, Zifei Fay
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bradford Emerald Publishing Limited 15.03.2021
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Subjects
Beliefs
Communication
Communication Research
Concept Formation
Definitions
Environment
False information
Guidelines
Influence
Information management
Information seeking behavior
Information systems
Intention
Investigations
Literature Reviews
Model testing
Multivariate statistical analysis
Peer Acceptance
Peer Influence
Self Efficacy
Social Media
Social networks
Social research
Social Structure
Society
Systems design
Trust
Trust (Psychology)
Trustworthiness
User behavior
Websites
United States > US
Relationship management
Distrust
Misinformation
Trust
Social media intensity
Digital platform
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Summary:PurposeThis study focused on the impact of misinformation on social networking sites. Through theorizing and integrating literature from interdisciplinary fields such as information behavior, communication and relationship management, this study explored how misinformation on Facebook influences users' trust, distrust and intensity of Facebook use.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed quantitative survey research and collected panel data via an online professional survey platform. A total of 661 participants in the USA completed this study, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the theoretical model using Amos 20.FindingsBased on data from an online questionnaire (N = 661) in the USA, results showed that information trustworthiness and elaboration, users' self-efficacy of detecting misinformation and prescriptive expectancy of the social media platform significantly predicted both trust and distrust toward Facebook, which in turn jointly influenced users' intensity of using this information system.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the growing body of literature on information and relationship management and digital communication from several important aspects. First, this study disclosed the underlying cognitive psychological and social processing of online misinformation and addressed the strategies for future system design and behavioral intervention of misinformation. Second, this study systematically examined both trust and distrust as cognitive and affective dimensions of the human mindsets, encompassed the different components of the online information behavior and enriched one’s understanding of how misinformation affected publics' perceptions of the information system where it appeared. Last but not least, this study advanced the relationship management literature and demonstrated that a trustful attitude exerted a stronger influence on the intensity of Facebook use than distrust did.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2020-0130
ISSN:1468-4527
1468-4535
DOI:10.1108/OIR-04-2020-0130