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Fake News: Susceptibility, Awareness and Solutions

Author

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  • Assenza, Tiziana
  • Cardaci, Alberto
  • Huber, Stefanie

Abstract

This paper quantifies the effect of a demand-side policy intervention to increase citizens’ willingness to pay to protect themselves from misinformation. We find that the average citizen lacks proficiency in identifying fake news and harbors an inflated perception of his/her ability to differentiate between accurate and fake news content. Increasing awareness by providing information about personal susceptibility to fall for fake news causally adjusts individuals’ beliefs about their fake news detection ability. Most importantly, we show that informing citizens about their personal susceptibility to fall for fake news causally increases their willingness to pay for the fact-checking service.

Suggested Citation

  • Assenza, Tiziana & Cardaci, Alberto & Huber, Stefanie, 2024. "Fake News: Susceptibility, Awareness and Solutions," TSE Working Papers 24-1519, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Apr 2024.
    • Handle: RePEc:tse:wpaper:129250
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Fève, Patrick & Assenza, Tiziana & Collard, Fabrice & Huber, Stefanie, 2024. "From Buzz to Bust: How Fake News Shapes the Business Cycle," TSE Working Papers 24-1516, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    2. Tiziana Assenza & Fabrice Collard & Patrick Fève & Stefanie Huber, 2024. "From Buzz to Bust: How Fake News Shapes the Business Cycle," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 287, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fake news; misinformation; personal susceptibility; fact checking; belief updating; willingness to pay; demand-side policy intervention; information provision experiments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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