Global Conference 2019

Abstract

This study examined how the fake news sponsored by brands influence consumers’ brand trust. Specifically, it explored the effects of fake news on brand trust and the factors (e.g., product involvement, audiences’ previous fake news experiences, and media consumption) that might moderate this association. An online between-subjects experiment-survey (n = 594) was conducted. This study designed the 2 (fake/real news) x 2 (brands of high/low product involvement) stimuli to explore the relationship between fake news and brand trust. The results showed that the difference of brand trust between fake and real news conditions was insignificant. However, a more granular analysis found that product involvement, media consumption, and audiences’ perceptions of fake news significantly moderated the relationship between perceived news credibility and brand trust, suggesting that fake news consumption is a complex behavior that involves other motivations that affect the interaction of message credibility and brand trust.