Assessing YouTube science news’ credibility: The impact of web-search on the role of video, source, and user attributes

Abstract

This randomized controlled experiment ( N = 707) is the first to examine the role of video, source and user attributes in credibility assessment of online science news videos, and the impact of web-search on this role. We created a science news YouTube video in 12 versions (3 × 2 × 2 for source, quality and popularity). Each participant was randomly assigned to one version and was asked to rate the credibility of the source and the scientific information presented in the video. We found that perceived credibility is positively associated with perceived quality, as well as users’ YouTube experience. For those participants who did not conduct an online search during the assessment task, there was a positive association between the presenter’s perceived credibility and the video’s perceived credibility as well as its popularity; however, such associations were not present for participants who did conduct an online search.

Tüketi̇ci̇ Bi̇lgi̇ Kaynaklarinin Kredi̇bi̇li̇tesi̇: Deneysel Bi̇r Araştirma

“…Çevrimiçi platformlarda arkadaş, takipçi, beğeni, izlenme sayısı gibi popülerliği temsil eden unsurların kaynağın kredibilitesini etkilediğine yönelik literatürde çeşitli bulgular yer almaktadır. (Lin vd., 2016;Michalovich ve Hershkovitz, 2020;Sundar, 2008;Westerman vd., 2012). Örneğin Sundar (2008) kredibilitenin her birey tarafından farklı değerlendirilmesinde sosyal işaretlerin ve ipuçlarının önemli olduğunu ve kredibilitenin oluşumu üzerinde kaynağın popülaritesi ve bilinirliğinin etkisinin bulunduğunu belirtmektedir.…”

“…Kaynak bilinirliği açısından yüksek bilinir seviyedeki kaynaklar söz konusu olduğunda tüm kaynak türlerine yönelik tüketicilerin kredibilite algılarının düşük bilinir kaynaklara göre daha yüksek olma eğiliminde olduğu bulunmuştur. Bu bulgu geçmiş çalışmaların bulguları ile tutarlıdır (Lin vd., 2016;Michalovich ve Hershkovitz, 2020;Weerkamp ve de Rijke, 2012;Westerman vd., 2012 Ürün türü açısından deneyim ürünleri söz konusu olduğunda kaynak türlerinin tümüne yönelik tüketicilerin kredibilite algılarının arama ürünlerine göre daha yüksek olma eğiliminde olduğu bulunmuştur. Bu bulgu geçmiş çalışmaların bulguları ile tutarlıdır (Bae ve Lee, 2011;Racherla ve Friske, 2012;Weathers vd., 2007).…”

“…Besides, it is stated that anonymous content on the internet will be perceived with lower credibility than unidentified information in traditional media (Chiou et al, 2018;Flanagin and Metzger, 2013;Hernández-Méndez et al, 2015). The literature also states that familiarity level and other consumers' recognition of a source might affect consumers' evaluation of information from that source as an intuitive clue (Breitsohl et al, 2010;Lin et al, 2016;Michalovich and Hershkovitz, 2020;Sundar, 2008;Westerman et al, 2012).…”

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“…Often video quality is lacking and videos are not entirely fitting or correct for teaching and learning environments (Trier, 2007). Furthermore, Michalovich & Hershkovitz (2020) found that perceived scientific credibility is linked to the perceived video quality. They also note the users' history, and note that working with, and watching video on the platform can influence their perception of content.…”

Análisis desde la perspectiva de género del engagement de los principales youtubers de divulgación científica=Analysis of the engagement of the main popular science youtubers from a gender perspective

“…Sin embargo, a pesar de la normalización del consumo de contenidos científicos a través de YouTube (Johnston et al, 2018;Davis et al, 2020), el incremento del número de usuarios y el reconocimiento de su valor informativo (Johnston et al, 2018;Vizcaíno et al, 2020;Michalovich y Hershkovitz, 2020;Davis et al, 2020), es reseñable la exposición diferencial por razón de sexo, ya que aún hoy, en España, la audiencia de estos canales es eminentemente masculina (Regueira, Alonso y Da-Vila, 2020), siendo el perfil más frecuente el de hombres de entre 15 a 24 años (EPSCYT, 2018).…”