Credibility as a double-edged sword: the effects of deceptive source misattribution on disinformation discernment on personal messaging

Vaccari, Cristian, Chadwick, Andrew, Hall, Natalie-Anne and Lawson, Brendan 2025. Credibility as a double-edged sword: the effects of deceptive source misattribution on disinformation discernment on personal messaging. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 10.1177/10776990251350563

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB)

Abstract

Disinformation often features reputable sources to boost false information’s credibility, but does this deceptive source misattribution shape its spread on personal messaging? In a preregistered between-subjects survey experiment on U.K. WhatsApp users (N = 2,580), we showed participants WhatsApp messages containing true or false news attributed to either British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) News or no source. Attribution to BBC News significantly increased message credibility. Importantly, however, participants’ responses to false messages attributed to BBC News were statistically indistinguishable from their responses to true messages. On personal messaging, source credibility can boost the spread of accurate news but can also be used deceptively to propagate falsehoods.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	1077-6990
Funders:	Leverhulme Trust
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	11 July 2025
Date of Acceptance:	25 May 2025
Last Modified:	21 Jul 2025 14:40
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179734

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item