TY - JOUR
AU - Vijaykumar, Santosh
AU - Jin, Yan
AU - Rogerson, Daniel
AU - Lu, Xuerong
AU - Sharma, Swati
AU - Maughan, Anna
AU - Fadel, Bianca
AU - de Oliveira Costa, Mariella Silva
AU - Pagliari, Claudia
AU - Morris, Daniel
PY - 2021
DA - March
TI - How Shades of Truth and Age Affect Responses to COVID-19 (Mis)Information: Randomized Survey Experiment among WhatsApp Users in UK and Brazil
JO - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
VL - 8
DO - https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00752-7
AB - We examined how age and exposure to different types of COVID-19 (mis)information affect misinformation beliefs, perceived credibility of the message and intention-to-share it on WhatsApp. Through two mixed-design online experiments in the UK and Brazil (total N = 1454) we first randomly exposed adult WhatsApp users to full misinformation, partial misinformation, or full truth about the therapeutic powers of garlic to cure COVID-19. We then exposed all participants to corrective information from the World Health Organisation debunking this claim. We found stronger misinformation beliefs among younger adults (18–54) in both the UK and Brazil and possible backfire effects of corrective information among older adults (55+) in the UK. Corrective information from the WHO was effective in enhancing perceived credibility and intention-to-share of accurate information across all groups in both countries. Our findings call for evidence-based infodemic interventions by health agencies, with greater engagement of younger adults in pandemic misinformation management efforts.
PB - Springer Nature
UR - https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/how-shades-of-truth-and-age-affect-responses-to-covid19-misinformation-randomized-survey-experiment-among-whatsapp-users-in-uk-and-brazil(01560278-ed06-48be-b7e7-d43513ac58f0).html
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
KW - Digital health and technology
ER