In News We Trust? Examining Credibility and Sharing Behaviors of Fake News

New communication technologies afford individuals the ability to not only consume media, but also create and share content with others. The purpose of this study is to investigate various factors that influence perceptions of credibility and sharing behaviors. Unfortunately, information disseminated via the Internet does not always contain factual, unbiased information. This study randomly assigned 207 participants to one of six conditions where they were exposed to news articles containing factual or false information and one of three political frames (balanced, right-leaning, left-leaning) to identify the environmental (distraction levels and screen size) and individual factors (political interest and religiosity) that influence perceptions of credibility and sharing behavior. Results suggests that credibility positively influenced sharing behavior, regardless of condition. Additionally, political interest was found as a positive predictor of sharing behavior and religiosity was found as a positive predictor of credibility. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications.