Don’t you know that you’re toxic? How influencer-driven misinformation fuels online toxicity

Di Domenico, Giandomenico, Mangió, Federico and Dineva, Denitsa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0451-9021 2026. Don’t you know that you’re toxic? How influencer-driven misinformation fuels online toxicity. Psychology and Marketing Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Research on misinformation has focused on message content and cognitive bias, overlooking how source type shapes toxic engagement. This study addresses that gap by showing that influencer-driven misinformation does not merely increase toxicity: it reconfigures its nature and persistence through relational and social influence mechanisms. Drawing on Source Credibility, Parasocial Interaction, and Social Influence theories, we analyse 101 brand-related misinformation posts (48,821 comments) across major platforms using a mixed-method design combining automated toxicity detection, topic modelling, and thematic analysis. Results reveal that influencers amplify toxicity under high engagement, socio-political salience, and low pseudonymity conditions, producing distinct patterns such as flame-bait firestorms and toxic debunking. We identify two influencer-specific mechanisms: brand-related misinformation legitimation and community enmeshment, that sustain toxic echo chambers by converting credibility and parasocial bonds into collective antagonism. These findings advance marketing theory by reframing toxicity as a source-amplified, relational phenomenon, and inform ecosystem-level interventions structured around publishers, platforms, and people to mitigate influencer-driven harm.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0742-6046
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	13 January 2026
Date of Acceptance:	8 January 2026
Last Modified:	14 Jan 2026 10:31
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/183832

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