Counteracting the Impact of Online Fake News on Brands

ABSTRACTThis study is one of the few studies that aimed to examine, first, the effect of social media usage for news consumption on users’ cognitive notions in terms of focal and affiliate social media trust, and second, the effect of social media trust, news-finds-me perception (NFMP), and fake news’ deception detection self-efficacy (DDSE) on news credibility, brand (dis)trust, and consumers’ propensity to believe and act on fake news. The analysis findings indicated that: (i) social media usage induces focal and affiliate social media trust, (ii) NFMP and DDSE influence news credibility, which in turn determines brand (dis)trust and the propensity to believe in and act on fake news, and (iii) the impact of focal and affiliate social media trust on news credibility is moderated by persuasive knowledge. The present study’s findings contribute to the existing consumer behavior literature by offering insights to counteract the impact of fake news on brands.