Assessment of Consumer Perception of Online Content Label Efficacy by Income Level, Party Affiliation and Online Use Levels

Abstract

Deceptive online content represents a potentially severe threat to society. This content has shown to have the capability to manipulate individuals’ beliefs, voting and activities. It is a demonstrably effective way for foreign adversaries to create domestic strife in open societies. It is also, by virtue of the magnitude of content, very difficult to combat. Solutions ranging from censorship to inaction have been proposed. One solution that has been suggested is labeling content to indicate its accuracy or characteristics. This would provide an indication or even warning regarding content that may be deceptive in nature, helping content consumers make informed decisions. If successful, this approach would avoid limitations on content creators’ freedom of speech while also mitigating the problems caused by deceptive content. To determine whether this approach could be effective, this paper presents the results of a national survey aimed at understanding how content labeling impacts online content consumption decision making. To ascertain the impact of potential labeling techniques on different portions of the population, it analyzes labels’ efficacy in terms of income level, political party affiliation and online usage time. This, thus, facilitates determining whether the labeling may be effective and also aids in understating whether its effectiveness may vary by demographic group.

Keywords

• online content labeling
• fake news
• trust
• income level
• party affiliation
• online time