The role of information cues on users' perceived credibility of online health rumors

ABSTRACT There are a lot of health rumors on social media that can lead to misunderstandings, health risks, and negative health behaviors. Understanding what makes health rumors credible becomes an important research topic. Based on elaboration likelihood model (ELM), this study aimed to explore the impact of three information cues (quality cues, attractiveness cues, and affective polarity) on the credibility of health rumors, under different levels of health literacy and personal involvement. We conduct an online experiment and obtain data from 218 participants. The preliminary results show that the quality cues and attractiveness cues of health rumors have negative impacts on credibility. Dread health rumors are more credible than wish rumors. Health literacy has a significant negative moderating effect between quality cues and health rumor credibility, and personal involvement has a significant positive moderating effect between attractiveness cues and health rumor credibility. This study offers insights on the intervention of social media health rumors.