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Misinformation on social media has become a great threat across the globe. Therefore, the authors aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of social media users' misinformation combating behavior, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the authors merged the uses and gratifications theory, social cognitive theory and theory of prosocial behavior into one theoretical framework (e.g. information seeking, status seeking, entertainment and norms of reciprocity) to understand their effect on users' prosocial media sharing experience and misinformation self-efficacy to combat misinformation.

The authors collected data from 356 social media users through “Google Forms” during the third wave of coronavirus in Pakistan. Further, the authors applied structural equation modeling for hypotheses testing.

The authors noted that entertainment and perceived norms of reciprocity positively affect social media users' prior experience and misinformation self-efficacy to enhance their misinformation combating intention. However, information seeking positively affects social media users' prior experience and insignificantly affects their misinformation self-efficacy. Similarly, status seeking was noted to be insignificantly associated with social media users' prior experience and misinformation self-efficacy.

The authors tested this model of misinformation combating intention in a developing country during the COVID-19 pandemic and noted that entertainment and status seeking motives are context-specific. Therefore, this study may likely benefit researchers, academicians and policymakers to understand the causal relationship between motivations and the behavior of combating misinformation on social media within a developing country.

In this study the authors merged three theories (e.g. uses and gratifications theory, social cognitive theory and theory of prosocial behavior) to understand information seeking, status seeking, entertainment and norms of reciprocity as the main motives for social media users' misinformation combating intention.

Purpose: The main purpose of the study is to understand the factors that facilitate correction behavior among individuals. In this study the authors examine the impact of self-perceived media literacy (SPML) and reflection on participants’ correction behavior.

Methods: Data for the study were collected from Amazon's MTurk using an online survey. Data were collected after a certificate of exemption was received by the Institutional Review Board in a research university in the United States (US) Qualtrics software was used to collect data. The total number of participants was 797.

Findings: The findings show that although both SPML and reflection are positively associated with rumor refutation, higher SPML alone is not enough. Reflective judgment is critical for individuals to take part in this behavior online, such that individuals with higher reflective judgment indicated that they refute rumors online, irrespective of their SPML score.

Originality: The authors tested the relationship of multiple variables with participants correction behavior. Although research shows the importance of social correction, there is not much knowledge about what facilitates actual misinformation correction.

Drawing upon the third-person effect (TPE) theory, this study focuses on two types of misinformation countering intentions (i.e. simple correction and correction with justification). Accordingly, it aims to (1) assess the tenability of the third-person perception (TPP) in the face of misinformation on social media, (2) explore the antecedents of TPP and its relationship with individual-level misinformation countering intentions and (3) examine whether the mediating process is contingent on different social media usage conditions.

An online survey was conducted with 1,000 representative respondents recruited in Mainland China in January 2022 using quota sampling. Paired t-test, multiple linear regression and moderated mediation analysis were employed to examine the proposed hypotheses.

Results bolster the fundamental proposition of TPP that individuals perceive others as more susceptible to social media misinformation than they are. The self-other perceptual bias served as a mediator between the perceived consequence of misinformation and misinformation countering (i.e. simple correction and correction with justification) intentions. Furthermore, intensive social media users were likely to be motivated to counter social media misinformation derived from the indirect mechanism.

The findings provide further evidence for the role of TPE in explaining misinformation countering intention as prosocial and altruistic behavior rather than self-serving behavior. Practically, promising ways to combat rampant misinformation on social media include promoting the prosocial aspects and beneficial outcomes of misinformation countering efforts to others, as well as reconfiguring the strategies by impelling intensive social media users to participate in enacting countering actions

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-09-2022-0507.

This study examined how people assess health information from AI and improve their diagnostic ability to identify health misinformation. The proposed model was designed to test a cognitive heuristic theory in misinformation discernment.

We proposed the heuristic-systematic model to assess health misinformation processing in the algorithmic context. Using the Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) 26 software, we tested fairness/transparency/accountability (FAccT) as constructs that influence the heuristic evaluation and systematic discernment of misinformation by users. To test moderating and mediating effects, PROCESS Macro Model 4 was used.

The effect of AI-generated misinformation on people’s perceptions of the veracity of health information may differ according to whether they process misinformation heuristically or systematically. Heuristic processing is significantly associated with the diagnosticity of misinformation. There is a greater chance that misinformation will be correctly diagnosed and checked, if misinformation aligns with users’ heuristics or is validated by the diagnosticity they perceive.

When exposed to misinformation through algorithmic recommendations, users’ perceived diagnosticity of misinformation can be predicted accurately from their understanding of normative values. This perceived diagnosticity would then positively influence the accuracy and credibility of the misinformation.

Perceived diagnosticity exerts a key role in fostering misinformation literacy, implying that improving people’s perceptions of misinformation and AI features is an efficient way to change their misinformation behavior.

Although there is broad agreement on the need to control and combat health misinformation, the magnitude of this problem remains unknown. It is essential to understand both users’ cognitive processes when it comes to identifying health misinformation and the diffusion mechanism from which such misinformation is framed and subsequently spread.

The mechanisms through which users process and spread misinformation have remained open-ended questions. This study provides theoretical insights and relevant recommendations that can make users and firms/institutions alike more resilient in protecting themselves from the detrimental impact of misinformation.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2023-0167

Health misinformation on social media threatens public health. A critical question that sheds light on the propagation of health misinformation across social media platforms revolves around identifying the specific types of social media users susceptible to this issue. This study provides an initial insight into this matter by examining the underlying psychological mechanism that renders users susceptible to health misinformation.

In this study, we developed an integrated model of susceptibility to health misinformation, drawing on the motivation-opportunity-ability theory and the elaboration likelihood model. We collected the data from a sample of 342 social media users in China. Furthermore, the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis was adopted to examine the proposed model and uncover the causal recipes associated with susceptibility to health misinformation.

The results indicated that there are three configural types of users that are susceptible to health misinformation: the health-consciousness core-driven type, the popularity-driven core type and the dual-driven type characterized by both high health consciousness and information popularity. Among these, high health-consciousness and the reliance on information popularity-based pathways emerge as pivotal factors influencing susceptibility to health misinformation.

This study contributes to the social media literature by identifying various psychological traits that lead to social media users’ susceptibility to health misinformation. Additionally, the study provides comprehensive guidance on how to mitigate the spread of health misinformation.

This research aims to explores consumers' motives and attitudes toward misinformation (fake reviews), its characteristics and its impact on individuals, brands and firms.

A thematic analysis was undertaken to meet the research objectives by analyzing qualitative data from in-depth interviews with a diverse sample (N = 48).

The findings indicate that altruism, impression management, matching ideologies, message appeal and perceived source power are the critical motivations for individuals to share misinformation. Misinformation leads to conflicts and avoidance among individuals and harms brand's reputation.

This study utilizes thematic analysis to extend and contribute to the literature on misinformation. The current research provides an overarching framework to decode the misinformation phenomenon for researchers and practitioners.

This study offers valuable insights to marketers to develop strategies to tackle the menace of false information to safeguard brand reputation.

The ballooning health misinformation on social media raises grave concerns. Drawing upon the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) model and the information processing literature, this study aims to explore (1) how social media health information seeking (S) affects health misinformation sharing intention (R) through the channel of health misperceptions (O) and (2) whether the mediation process would be contingent upon different information processing predispositions.

Data were collected from a survey comprising 388 respondents from the Chinese middle-aged or above group, one of China's most susceptible populations to health misinformation. Standard multiple linear regression models and the PROCESS Macro were adopted to examine the direct effect and the moderated mediation model.

Results bolstered the S-O-R-based mechanism, in which health misperceptions mediated social media health information seeking's effect on health misinformation sharing intention. As an indicator of analytical information processing, need for cognition (NFC) failed to moderate the mediation process. Contrarily, faith in intuition (FI), an indicator reflecting intuitive information processing, served as a significant moderator. The positive association between social media health information seeking and misperceptions was stronger among respondents with low FI.

This study sheds light on health misinformation sharing research by bridging health information seeking, information internalization and information sharing. Moreover, the authors extended the S-O-R model by integrating information processing predispositions, which differs this study from previous literature and advances the extant understanding of how information processing styles work in the face of online health misinformation. The particular age group and the Chinese context further inform context-specific implications regarding online health misinformation regulation.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2023-0157.

Despite the burgeoning popularity of virtual gifting in live streaming, research lacks an in-depth understanding of the drivers behind this behavior. Using para-social relationship (PSR), this study aims to capture viewers’ lively social feelings toward the streamer as the key factor leading to the purchase behavior of virtual gifts. It also aims to establish a theoretical link between PSR and viewers’ holistic experience in live streaming as captured by cognitive absorption and aims to investigates the role of technological features (i.e. viewer–streamer and viewer–viewer interactivity, streamer-level and viewer-level deep profiling and design aesthetics) in shaping viewers’ experience.

Based on 433 survey responses, this study employs a combination of structural equation modeling and neural networks to offer valuable insights into the relationships between the technological environment, viewer experience and viewer behavior.

Our results highlight the salience of PSR in promoting the purchase of virtual gifts through cognitive absorption and the importance of the technological environment in eliciting the viewer experience. This study sheds light on the development of PSR in a technological environment and its relationship with cognitive absorption.

By applying PSR to conceptualize viewers’ perceived connection with the streamer, this study extends the research on purchase behavior in the non-shopping context by providing an enlightened understanding of virtual gift purchase behavior in live streaming. Moreover, by theoretically linking PSR with cognitive absorption, virtual gift purchase and technological features of live streaming, it enriches the theory of PSR and bridges the gap between the design practice of supporting the IT infrastructure of live streaming and research.

The paper examines the content moderation practices and related public disclosures of the World's most popular social media organizations (SMOs). It seeks to understand how content moderation operates as a process of accountability to shape and inform how users (inter)act on social media and how SMOs account for these practices.

Content analysis of the content moderation practices for selected SMOs was conducted using a range of publicly available data. Drawing on seminal accountability studies and the concepts of hierarchical and holistic accountability, the authors investigate the design and appearance of the systems of accountability that seek to guide how users create and share content on social media.

The paper unpacks the four-stage process of content moderation enacted by the World's largest SMOs. The findings suggest that while social media accountability may allow SMOs to control the content shared on their platforms, it may struggle to condition user behavior. This argument is built around the limitations the authors found in the way performance expectations are communicated to users, the nature of the dialogue that manifests between SMOs and users who are “held to account”, and the metrics drawn upon to determine the effectiveness of SMOs content moderation activities.

This is the first paper to examine the content moderation practices of the World's largest SMOs. Doing so extends understanding of the forms of accountability that function in the digital space. Crucial future research opportunities are highlighted to provoke and guide debate in this research area of escalating importance.

The purpose of this study is to examine the risks of the metaverse ecosystem. This study provides an overview of the metaverse and its evolution and discusses the various fraud risks it poses for organizations (including boards of directors, forensic accountants, auditors and accountants). Given the advantages of the metaverse and the growing interest it is attracting from organizations, this paper sheds light on the importance of mitigating its risks.

Based on a systematic review of the literature on the metaverse and analysis of the fraud triangle, this study examines the different fraud risks it poses. More specifically, this study analyzes 21 articles on the metaverse published between 2021 and 2022 and attempts to answer the following research questions: What are the risks inherent in the metaverse? What are the fraud risks associated with it? What are the opportunities and pressures it brings? What is the rationalization underlying its use? This study conducts the analysis on two levels, that of the individual (user) and that of the organization. This paper summarizes the findings of publications on the metaverse in 2021 and 2022 to discover its various definitions and the opportunities and risks it represents.

This paper offers an insightful discussion of the advantages and risks the metaverse can bring. Because this analysis shows that any organization could be vulnerable to metaverse risks, this study provides organizations with strategies to deter, detect and prevent fraud and reputational risks. Regulatory bodies, financial authorities, board of directors and fraud investigators should all consider these risks before investing in the metaverse.

This paper adds new insights to the scarce research on the metaverse and cybersecurity by exploring the opportunities and risks it presents. It has several implications for organizations, boards of directors, management and regulatory authorities.