Exaggerated and Questioning Clickbait Headlines and Their Influence on Media Learning

J. Media Psychol. Theor. Methods Appl. Pub Date : 2021-05-28 DOI:10.1027/1864-1105/A000298

Nick Carcioppolo, Di Lun, S. McFarlane

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

Abstract. Headlines that are incongruous with article content can negatively impact media learning outcomes. Clickbait headlines intentionally misrepresent news content, often in sensational ways to increase click-throughs and ad revenue. To evaluate the impact of clickbait headlines on media learning and article-related beliefs, we conducted two online experiments, each testing a 3 (headline-type: accurate, clickbait-question, clickbait-exaggerated) × 2 (exposure: headline-only, full article) factorial. In Study 1, an online sample of US adults ( N = 629) was randomly assigned to one of six news message conditions. Study 2 ( N = 1,674) was a replication study across three news contexts and testing a mediator to explain how exposure to a clickbait headline can influence learning. Key results suggest that reading the full article with an accurate headline resulted in the highest recognition and comprehension, and reading correcting information within an article is likely not enough to overcome the deleterious impact of a clickbait headline. Theoretical and practical recommendations are discussed.

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夸大和质疑标题党标题及其对媒体学习的影响

摘要与文章内容不协调的标题会对媒体学习结果产生负面影响。标题党故意歪曲新闻内容，通常以耸人听闻的方式增加点击量和广告收入。为了评估标题党标题对媒体学习和文章相关信念的影响，我们进行了两个在线实验，每个实验都测试了一个3(标题类型:准确，标题诱饵-问题，标题诱饵-夸大)× 2(曝光:只有标题，完整的文章)的因子。在研究1中，美国成年人的在线样本(N = 629)被随机分配到六种新闻信息条件之一。研究2 (N = 1,674)是一项跨三种新闻背景的复制研究，并测试一个中介来解释接触标题党如何影响学习。关键结果表明，阅读带有准确标题的完整文章可以获得最高的认可度和理解力，而阅读文章中的纠正信息可能不足以克服标题党标题的有害影响。讨论了理论和实践建议。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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J. Media Psychol. Theor. Methods Appl.

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