Fake News: Susceptibility, Awareness and Solutions

Last registered on January 28, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Fake News: Susceptibility, Awareness and Solutions
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007616
Initial registration date
April 28, 2021

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 28, 2021, 10:27 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
January 28, 2024, 3:31 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Tiziana Assenza
Affiliation
Toulouse School of Economics
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Alberto Cardaci
PI Affiliation
Goethe University Frankfurt
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Stefanie J. Huber
PI Affiliation
Department of Economics, University of Bonn; ECONtribute Research Cluster

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2021-05-01
End date
2021-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Other
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Employing a representative US online panel, we document the existence of large errors in people's beliefs about their ability to assess the accuracy of news headlines. With a randomized information experiment, we show that revelation of the true ability causally adjusts beliefs and reduces these errors. The effect is stronger for subjects who are overconfident about own ability and this is driven by gender
di erences in the reaction to the revealed ability. Finally, we show that the adjustment in beliefs causally increases the willingness to pay to hedge against the risk of being harmed by misinformation.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Assenza, Tiziana, Alberto Cardaci and Stefanie J. Huber. 2024. "Fake News: Susceptibility, Awareness and Solutions." AEA RCT Registry. January 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7616-4.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-06-11
Intervention End Date
2021-08-06

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Estimate people's prior beliefs and actual ability to correctly assess the accuracy of the information content of the news presented to them (Fake News detection ability).
Explore whether prior beliefs and actual Fake News detection ability are predicted by individual characteristics (e.g., income, education, etc.) and the intensity of social media use and addiction.
Study whether subjects update beliefs, change FN detection performance, as well as economic decisions, in response to a signal about own true Fake News detection ability.
Explore people's prior belief and attitudes towards socially and economically relevant domains (e.g., vaccination, climate change) and test the causal effect of FN exposure on the beliefs and attitudes within these domains.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This is an incentivised online survey with a control group and one treatment arm. In the control group, subjects carry out a fake news detection task and we estimate prior and posterior beliefs about their ability to discern true and false news in the task. The treatment mimics the control group, except that subjects receive a signal about their true fake news detection ability while performing the task. In both treatments, subjects are also randomly assigned to two groups: one group sees the source of the news, while the other does not. Finally, for all subjects, we collect information on individual characteristics, ranging from socio-demographics and political orientation, to cognitive sophistication.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Computer (online survey)
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2400 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
2400
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
600
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Toulouse School of Economics
IRB Approval Date
2021-04-19
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
Employing a representative US online panel, we document the existence of large errors in people's beliefs about their ability to assess the accuracy of news headlines. With a randomized information experiment, we show that revelation of the
true ability causally adjusts beliefs and reduces these errors. The effect is stronger for subjects who are overconfident about own ability and this is driven by gender differences in the reaction to the revealed ability. Finally, we show that the adjustment in beliefs causally increases the willingness to pay to hedge against the risk of being harmed by misinformation.
Citation
Assenza T. and A. Cardaci (2022) "The Ability to Distill the Truth", Toulouse School of Economics WP #1280
URL
https://www.tse-fr.eu/sites/default/files/TSE/documents/doc/wp/2021/wp_tse_1280.pdf

Reports & Other Materials