Experimental Design
The study is a survey experiment conducted on a representative sample of French adults recruited via an online platform. Participants first answer background questions on socio-demographic characteristics, political preferences, and support for various actors and public figures.
Participants are then exposed to four short claims, each presenting an actor secretly engaging in a potentially harmful action. For each claim, one of three versions is randomly and independently assigned: two claims vary the identity of the alleged actor, and two vary the political source attributed to the claim. The order of claims is randomized across respondents.
After each claim, respondents answer two sets of questions. The first elicits labeling decisions: respondents indicate whether they would classify the claim as a conspiracy theory, misinformation, a rumor, or credible information. The second elicits assessments of the claim's plausibility, potential harm, and prior familiarity. An attention check is included at the end of each claim block. The order of the labeling questions relative to the assessment questions is randomized across respondents, as is the order of the labeling categories.
At the end of the survey, respondents complete an incentivized belief elicitation task in which they estimate the share of other respondents who labeled each claim as a conspiracy theory.
The study is conducted in two waves: a pilot study followed by a main study, the size of which will be determined based on pilot results and a formal power calculation.