Most Read Versus Most Shared: How Less (vs. More) Social Popularity Labels Influence News Media Consumption

News outlets commonly highlight the most popular content using different labels (e.g., “most read” and “most shared”). As prior research has found that people primarily consume news for information or entertainment, it is important to understand what these popularity labels convey about the information value and entertainment value of articles and how they shape consumers’ news preferences and decisions. Nine lab and field studies, including two in the web appendix, demonstrate that labels reflecting less social behavior (e.g., “most read”) signal higher information (vs. entertainment) value, while labels reflecting more social behavior (e.g., “most shared”) signal higher entertainment (vs. information) value. Thus, consumers with information motives prefer less social popularity labels, a stronger signal of information value. Conversely, consumers with entertainment motives prefer more social labels, a stronger signal of entertainment value. Notably, an analysis of 120 major media outlets revealed that many use labels that are misaligned with readers’ dominant motives or use no label at all, indicating considerable room for improvement. Reassuringly, this work finds that strategically using popularity labels can increase clicks by over 20%. This has implications for media outlets aiming to spur engagement as well as researchers and organizations concerned with information dissemination.