Open AccessEffects of Sponsorship, Web Site Design, and Google Ranking on the Credibility of Online Information
Author(s) -
Westerwick Axel
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of computer‐mediated communication
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.15
H-Index - 119
ISSN - 1083-6101
DOI - 10.1111/jcc4.12006
Subject(s) - credibility , persuasion , ranking (information retrieval) , source credibility , computer science , world wide web , online search , web site , variety (cybernetics) , information retrieval , internet privacy , the internet , psychology , political science , social psychology , artificial intelligence , law
Online searches for reliable information present a challenge, given the enormous amount of information and variety of sources—many questionable sources offer information on Web sites with an appealing design, which may signal high credibility through appearance. Drawing on a persuasion perspective, conceptualizations for online information credibility, and information foraging theory, a main experiment (n = 574) and a follow‐up study (n = 293) examined influences of Web site sponsorship, Web site design appeal, and search engine ranking on online information credibility. Results show that sponsor credibility affected information assessment, whereas a more appealing Web site design could not compensate for low sponsor credibility. Additionally, a high search‐engine ranking increased sponsor credibility and thus influenced information credibility indirectly.