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To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00390.x Byline: Sabine A. Einwiller (a2), Michael A. Kamins (b) Abstract: Two studies were undertaken to examine the moderating effect of identification with a rumor target on rumor impact and refutation effectiveness. We show that identification and its opposite, disidentification, bias the way individuals react to a rumor. That is, as identification with the rumor target increased from disidentification to neutral to identification, belief in an aversive rumor declined. Furthermore, the effectiveness of a refutation was moderated by an individual's level of identification. People with a neutral identification level processed a refutation heuristically and were persuaded by it, whether it contained strong or weak arguments. Disidentifiers, who engaged in systematic processing, believed the rumor less only when the refutation contained strong arguments. Identifiers, processing heuristically, remained unbelieving in the rumor. Author Affiliation: (a)School of BusinessUniversity of Applied Sciences Northwestern SwitzerlandOlten, Switzerland (b)Harriman College of BusinessStony Brook University-SUNY Article note: (2) Sabine Einwiller, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, School of Business, Riggenbachstrasse 16, 4600 Olten, Switzerland. E-mail: sabine.einwiller@fhnw.ch