Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/293973 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
ECONtribute Discussion Paper No. 290
Publisher: 
University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Reinhard Selten Institute (RSI), Bonn and Cologne
Abstract: 
This paper investigates and quantifies citizens' susceptibility to fake news and assesses, using a randomized control trial, the effectiveness of a policy intervention to raise awareness. We find that the average citizen lacks proficiency in identifying fake news and harbors an inflated perception of his/her ability to differentiate between true 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 the simple intervention of informing citizens about their personal susceptibility to fall for fake news causally increases their willingness to pay for the fact-checking service.
Subjects: 
Fake news
misinformation
disinformation
fact checking
information provision experiments
belief updating
willingness to pay
JEL: 
C83
D83
D84
D91
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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