Correcting Misperceptions About Genetically Modified Food on Social Media: Examining the Impact of Experts, Social Media Heuristics, and the Gateway Belief Model

Leticia Bode; Emily K. Vraga; Melissa Tully

doi:10.1177/1075547020981375

Correcting Misperceptions About Genetically Modified Food on Social Media: Examining the Impact of Experts, Social Media Heuristics, and the Gateway Belief Model

Leticia Bode, Emily K. Vraga, Melissa Tully

Journalism and Mass Communication

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We experimentally test whether expert organizations on social media can correct misperceptions of the scientific consensus on the safety of genetically modified (GM) food for human consumption, as well as what role social media cues, in the form of “likes,” play in that process. We find expert organizations highlighting scientific consensus on GM food safety reduces consensus misperceptions among the public, leading to lower GM misperceptions and boosting related consumption behaviors in line with the gateway belief model. Expert organizations’ credibility may increase as a result of correction, but popularity cues do not seem to affect misperceptions or credibility.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	225-251
Number of pages	27
Journal	Science Communication
Volume	43
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547020981375
State	Published - Apr 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was funded through a 2017 Fall Grant-in-Aid from Georgetown University.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.

Keywords

credibility
gateway belief model
genetically modified food
heuristics
misinformation
social media

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goal(s)

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title = "Correcting Misperceptions About Genetically Modified Food on Social Media: Examining the Impact of Experts, Social Media Heuristics, and the Gateway Belief Model",

abstract = "We experimentally test whether expert organizations on social media can correct misperceptions of the scientific consensus on the safety of genetically modified (GM) food for human consumption, as well as what role social media cues, in the form of “likes,” play in that process. We find expert organizations highlighting scientific consensus on GM food safety reduces consensus misperceptions among the public, leading to lower GM misperceptions and boosting related consumption behaviors in line with the gateway belief model. Expert organizations{\textquoteright} credibility may increase as a result of correction, but popularity cues do not seem to affect misperceptions or credibility.",

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author = "Leticia Bode and Vraga, {Emily K.} and Melissa Tully",

note = "Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was funded through a 2017 Fall Grant-in-Aid from Georgetown University. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2020.",

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N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was funded through a 2017 Fall Grant-in-Aid from Georgetown University. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2020.

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Correcting Misperceptions About Genetically Modified Food on Social Media: Examining the Impact of Experts, Social Media Heuristics, and the Gateway Belief Model

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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