Search results

This study seeks to comprehend if political exposure containing disapproval and different values will affect implicit knowledge sharing (KS) amongst colleagues in the organization. This research examines participants' responses to a colleague's social-media political exposure and their readiness to perform implicit KS to their colleague.

Data collection uses an online questionnaire and a vignette approach. Subsequently, data analysis for 316 finished surveys employs structural equation modelling-partial least squares (SEM-PLS).

The findings show that the perceived-value similarity of political posts of a colleague significantly and indirectly affects workers' readiness to do implicit KS. Besides, likes and trusts also significantly affect workers' readiness to perform implicit KS. While perceived-value similarity strongly shapes likes, likes significantly and positively affect trusts.

Sharing social-media postings associated with political exposure can hinder the implicit KS in organizations and is understudied in the field of knowledge management. Especially, unlike this study which focuses on private companies, previous studies have paid more attention to public enterprises. Besides, this paper's empirical verification is obtained from private organizations in Indonesia, which is also neglected by scholars.

The purpose of the current research is to present an explanatory framework for how people selectively attend to privacy-related news information about LBA depending on the extent to which they know about LBA already as well as their appraisals of privacy threats and efficacy.

The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling based on a total of 522 useable responses obtained from an online survey.

The results revealed two different approaches to information exposure: (1) people choose to seek out privacy-related news articles when their persuasion knowledge and perceived threat level are high, whereas (2) they tend to avoid such information when perceived threats accompany fear as well as psychological discomfort, or when they believe that they are knowledgeable about LBA practices and highly capable of protecting their privacy.

With the development of real-time location-tracking technologies, the practice of LBA is becoming increasingly popular. As such, however, concerns about data collection and privacy are also on the rise, garnering a great deal of media attention. Despite the importance and constant stream of news reports on the subject, a comprehensive understanding of consumers' privacy assessments and information consumption remains underexamined. By incorporating the persuasion knowledge model and extended parallel process model, the current research presents an explanatory framework for consumers' privacy perceptions and information choice.

This paper aims to investigate the mechanisms through which social media news consumption across different platforms leads to opinion polarization in society. To this end, the authors draw from cultivation theory to examine whether social media news consumption imparts a mainstreaming or resonance effect. Media consumption imparts a mainstreaming effect if frequent users, regardless of their social identity, develop homogenous attitudes about issues, whereas resonance is at play if there is a differing cultivation effect on various social groups depending on their relatability of life experiences.

The authors conduct the study in the developing context of India, using a population survey dataset from 2019. Regression-based mediation and moderation analyses were carried out to test the hypotheses.

The findings reveal that resonance is the most prominent mechanism through which social media news consumption cultivates opinion polarization, contrary to the mainstreaming effect imparted by television. Further, WhatsApp use was found to strengthen the polarizing effect of overall social media news consumption, while YouTube use weakened the cultivation of polarization.

The paper unearths how social media news consumption influences the opinion polarization of various social groups differently. The authors also find the differential effect of specific platform use. These findings have the potential to inform policymakers and developers about how to mitigate the detrimental effects of platform-based political persuasion.

This study offers significant contributions. First, the authors explain social media-induced polarization using the novel theoretical lens of cultivation. Second, the authors find that social media and television news consumption differ in their polarizing effects. Third, the authors find that while WhatsApp use amplifies the polarizing effect of social media news consumption, YouTube use weakens it.

This study examined how likeminded Facebook comments with incivility and without supporting evidence influence readers' evaluations of the commenter and online political participation intention. This study also investigated whether the indirect effect of exposure to uncivil comments and comments without evidence on online political participation through evaluations of the commenters is contingent on the strength of partisanship.

The study used a 2 (uncivil comments vs civil comments) × 2 (comments without supporting evidence vs comments with supporting evidence) factorial design with a scenario about reading similar viewpoints about the gun control issue in Facebook comments.

The results showed that compared to exposure to civil agreeing comments, exposure to uncivil likeminded comments resulted in higher levels of negative evaluations of the commenters, which in turn decreased willingness to participate in political activities online. Exposure to comments without evidence led to more negative evaluations of the commenters, but it did not significantly influence online political participation. In addition, the strength of partisanship did not significantly moderate the indirect effect of exposure to uncivil comments and comments without evidence on online political participation through evaluations of the commenters.

Although previous studies have demonstrated the significant effects of incivility and reasoned argument, little is known about whether and how people evaluate ingroup members' comments that are uncivil and lacking reasoned arguments. Most of these studies have examined incivility in political contexts, but few have extended the context to the effect of likeminded comments, especially when the comments are uncivil and lack supporting evidence. The current study aims to fill this gap in the literature.

Misperceptions hinder our ability to effectively respond to health crises such as the COVID-19. We aimed to examine the dynamic influences between information exposure, information trust and misperceptions during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we focused on the relative influence of exposure to COVID-19-related information via social media versus interpersonal offline communication.

The current study conducted a two-wave national survey of US adults in May and June of 2020 with a two-week time interval. A professional polling firm recruited participants, and 911 and 679 respondents participated in the first and the second wave survey, respectively. To test proposed hypotheses, researchers conducted path analyses using AMOS 27.0.

Findings show that individuals exposed to COVID-19-related information via social media are likely to hold increased misperceptions. In contrast, exposure to COVID-19-related information offline did not elicit any effects on misperceptions. The exposure to information on social media was positively associated with trust in that information, which, in turn, contributed to an increase in misperceptions. Furthermore, when examining the effects of misperception, it was found that misperceptions increased the likelihood of individuals being exposed to and having trust in COVID-19-related information on social media. The findings provide valuable insights into the role of social media as a platform where a detrimental cycle thrives, shaping the formation of misperceptions and cultivating a heightened dependence among individuals with elevated misperceptions.

The current study significantly extends the findings of prior research by examining the differential effects of social media and interpersonal communication offline on misperception and by revealing the intricate dynamics between information exposure and misperception by focusing on the role of trust. The findings emphasize the detrimental role of social media in generating a vicious information cycle. That said, seemingly superficial discussions about health crises within a social media environment rich in misinformation can contribute to fueling a self-reinforcing loop, making it challenging to effectively counteract misperceptions.

Most new media research focuses on behavior as a measure of engagement, while the psychological state of being occupied with its content has received little attention. This study examined news engagement beyond pure action observation by exploring young people’s psychological experiences with the news.

The study carried out a digital native’s survey on 212 people (18–28 years). The focus of the survey was on understanding individuals’ engagement with online news using affective and cognitive components. The authors compared the influence of each type of engagement on youth consumption of and attitudes toward online news.

The results of the hierarchical regression analysis showed that affective engagement can be a stronger predictor of online news consumption than cognitive engagement. While affective engagement significantly predicts positive attitudes toward online news, cognitive engagement had no significant effect.

These findings suggest that “engaging the heart” is more influential than “engaging the mind” in drawing young people to the news in today’s information environment. The study thus contributes to the understanding of the cognitive and emotional focus on news content and their importance in shaping young people’s expectations of online news. The findings from this study could have broader implications for future trends in online news consumption.

The authors' research examines how negative electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) alters focal customers' post-recovery justice perceptions and attitudes to determine their future behavior with the service provider. Specifically, this paper develops and tests a conceptual model to investigate how negative e-WOM alters focal customers' perceptual and attitudinal outcomes after the service recovery experience. It also examines the post-recovery effect of negative e-WOM on focal customers’ willingness to patronize the service after their recovery experience.

To test the hypotheses, two pretests and two experimental studies with created scenarios in the retail context were conducted.

The authors' findings reveal that services are judged during and well beyond failure and recovery occurrences. To maintain a loyal customer base, service managers should develop processes that address service complaints both within and beyond the service consumption stage. The authors also find that despite a favorable recovery, focal customers gravitate toward the failure experience and develop unfavorable attitudes toward the service provider, leading to likely defections.

The authors' research demonstrates the persuasive power of negative e-WOM at the post-service recovery stage, making a unique contribution to the service recovery literature. This research also contributes to the persuasive effect of negative e-WOM, demonstrating message context as a boundary condition of negative e-WOM effects. In general, the authors' work highlights the importance of understanding the psychological processes involved in eliciting the persuasive influence of negative e-WOM in the post-service recovery stage that may lead to the defection of “so-called” successfully recovered customers.

The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of personality traits and the ability to detect fake news on information avoidance behavior. It also examined the effect of personality traits on the ability to detect fake news.

The sample population included Shiraz University students who were studying in the second semester of academic year 2021 in different academic levels. It consisted of 242 students of Shiraz University. The Big Five theory was used as the theoretical background of the study. Moreover, the research instrument was an electronic questionnaire consisting of the three questionnaires of the ability to detect fake news (Esmaeili et al., 2019, inspired by IFLA, 2017), the Big Five personality traits (Goldberg, 1999) and information avoidance (Howell and Shepperd, 2016). The statistical methods used to analyze the data were Pearson correlation and stepwise regression, which were performed through SPSS software (version 26).

The results showed that from among the five main personality factors, only neuroticism had a positive and significant effect on information avoidance. In addition, the ability to detect fake news had a significant negative effect on information avoidance behavior. Further analyses also showed positive and significant effects of openness to experience and extraversion on the ability to detect fake news. In fact, the former had more predictive power.

Following the Big Five theory considering COVID-19 information avoidance and the ability to detect COVID-19 fake news, this study shifted the focus from environmental factors to personality factors and personality traits. Furthermore, this study introduced the ability to detect fake news as an influential factor in health information avoidance behaviors, which can be a prelude for new research studies.

The present study applied the five main personality factors theory in the context of information avoidance behavior and the ability to detect fake news, and supported the effect of personality traits on these variables.

While much research has examined the effect of media literacy in combatting misinformation, whether and to what extent news media literacy influences misinformation-related behaviors (i.e. misinformation sharing, misinformation correction) and the mediating effect of news media skepticism in the process remain less explored. Moreover, this line of research has extensively focused on a polarized information context (e.g. the USA) with less attention to a context where news information is more regulated and centralized. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned objective.

The authors conducted a survey study of 720 Chinese adults.

This study reveals that greater new media literacy predicts higher misinformation correction behaviors, but fails to predict caution in sharing misinformation. Findings further demonstrate a nuanced mediating effect of news media skepticism that challenges previous assertions about its protective role. That is, higher news media literacy is associated with lower news media skepticism; lower skepticism is in turn related to lower misinformation sharing and greater misinformation correction.

The current study integrates news media literacy and news media skepticism in understanding misinformation-related behaviors. Findings generally speak to the tangible benefits of news media literacy in helping motivate corrective actions among the general public. However, this study also strikes a cautious note that future investigations of news media skepticism would benefit from a cultural perspective. Its connections with perceptions and effects on behaviors could vary according to different types of media and political landscapes.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2023-0172

The purpose of this study is to investigate individuals’ perceptions and behavior when dealing with misinformation on social media platforms. While misinformation is not a new phenomenon, the COVID-19 outbreak has accelerated its spread through social media outlets, leading to widespread exposure to false or misleading information. This exposure can have serious consequences on individuals’ decision-making and behavior, especially when it comes to critical decisions related to education or healthcare. The use of social media as a source of information makes it essential to understand how people perceive and respond to misinformation to develop effective strategies for mitigating its harmful effects.

This large-scale study explores the Omani individuals’ perceptions and behaviour of misinformation on the social Web in a series of studies that seek to enhance the authorities’ response to misinformation. The study adopted a quantitative approach to collect data. Using WhatsApp as a social networking platform, a survey was disseminated to capture participants’ perceptions and behaviour among different segments of citizens in Oman.

The findings showed that Omani participants have high verification skills, implying high information literacy skills among them. Additionally, results indicated that misinformation had created doubt and anxiety among the participants. Moreover, it hindered many participants’ ability to take countermeasures and obtain reliable data.

This study was a large-scale study conducted in Oman, making it one of a few studies conducted in the region about perceptions and behaviour towards misinformation. The findings help to understand how different cultures interacted with COVID-19 misinformation. In addition, these findings offer useful insight that can help health information professionals to design preventive resources that help people to obtain accurate information during crises.