Detecting deception in computer-mediated communication: the role of popularity information across media types
Abstract
Purpose
With the widespread use of online communications, users are extremely vulnerable to a myriad of deception attempts. This study aims to extend the literature on deception in computer-mediated communication by investigating whether the manner in which popularity information (PI) is presented and media richness affects users’ judgments.
Design/methodology/approach
This study developed a randomized, within and 2 × 3 between-subject experimental design. This study analyzed the main effects of PI and media richness on the imitation magnitude of veracity judges and the effect of the interaction between PI and media richness on the imitation magnitude of veracity judges.
Findings
The manner in which PI is presented to people affects their tendency to imitate others. Media richness also has a main effect; text-only messages resulted in greater imitation magnitude than those viewed in full audiovisual format. The findings showed an interaction effect between PI and media richness.
Originality/value
The findings of this study contribute to the information systems literature by introducing the notion of herd behavior to judgments of truthfulness and deception. Also, the medium over which PI was presented significantly impacted the magnitude of imitation tendency: PI delivered through text-only medium led to a greater extent of imitation than when delivered in full audiovisual format. This suggests that media richness alters the degree of imitating others’ decisions such that the leaner the medium, the greater the expected extent of imitation.
Keywords
Citation
Mirsadikov, A., Vedadi, A. and Marett, K. (2024), "Detecting deception in computer-mediated communication: the role of popularity information across media types", Information and Computer Security, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICS-06-2023-0103
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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