Is Fake News the New Social Media Crisis? Examining the Public Evaluation of Crisis Management for Corporate Organizations Targeted in Fake News

This study conducted a mixed-design experiment to explore how the audience evaluates brands targeted in online disinformation. The effects of key characteristics of fake news, political motivation and the intent to damage the brand reputation, were tested on crisis identification, perceived crisis severity, and audience acceptance of crisis responses. Results indicated that while fake news with high intention to damage the brand was perceived and evaluated to be a severe organizational crisis, fake news with political motivation was not considered to be a reputational crisis. Participants evaluated fake news with high intent to damage brand reputation as the most severe crisis and demanded accommodative responses from brands. Brands need to make strategic decisions based on the intent to damage the brand reputation and the presence of political motivations when they find themselves victims of disinformation spreading on social media.