A study by ECONtribute members Florian Zimmermann (University of Bonn) and Christopher Roth (University of Cologne), together with Robin Musolff (University of Cologne), shows that people can’t simply disregard false information once it has been debunked.
False claims and misleading information appear to continue influencing people even after they have been clearly disproven. This effect is particularly strong when misinformation is presented as part of an emotional narrative. This is shown by a recent study by ECONtribute members Florian Zimmermann (University of Bonn) and Christopher Roth, together with Robin Musolff (both from the University of Cologne).
For the study, the researchers presented their participants with evaluative information about hypothetical companies. They specified that half of the information was true, while the other half was false or irrelevant. The participants were then asked to evaluate the companies.
The results show that false figures or statistics had little effect on people’s attitudes, whereas false stories noticeably influenced their opinions. This remained the case even after the stories were later exposed as false.
The study’s authors suggest that at least some of the participants were not even aware that falsehoods actually influence their opinions. The brain processes the (false) descriptions as if they were real experiences.
Zimmermann argues that the rapid development of artificial intelligence makes this challenge even more urgent. Today, AI makes it possible to enhance fake news with audio, images, and videos practically in real time and at negligible cost. Thus, when strategically disseminated, misinformation could stick in people’s minds even more strongly than traditional narratives. Zimmermann therefore advocates for new strategies to tackle fake news: Fact-checking alone is not enough. Instead, similarly emotionally charged narratives based on the true facts could help weaken the impact of misinformation.
Find out more in the ECONtribute Discussion Paper and on ga.de.