When do people share different health rumours? An empirical study in the COVID-19 context in China

One of the most important questions confronting managers is how to control different rumours. Although previous literature has studied the antecedents of users' rumours sharing intention, little research has focused on how different rumour types (dread and wish rumour) affect sharing intention and its boundary conditions. To fill this research gap, this study conducted two empirical studies based on elaboration likelihood model (ELM) to explore how the way of processing rumours varies with rumour type. The results show that: 1) in dread rumour studies, central cues have a positive effect on sharing intention, while only source credibility in peripheral cues has a positive effect on sharing intention; 2) in wish rumour studies, peripheral cues have a positive effect on sharing intention, while only perceived utility in central cues has a positive effect on sharing intention; 3) enjoyment in helping others positively moderates the relationship between rumour characteristics and sharing intention.