Social media presents a promising yet competitive communication landscape for health practitioners and organizations during the rapid spread of an emerging infectious disease. The current study examined the association between the level of fear-arousing sensationalism and user engagement in 800 Facebook posts regarding the 2016 Zika virus outbreak. Results revealed that the majority of nonnews posts completely lacked sensationalist elements, and that user engagement increased significantly as the level of fear-arousing sensationalism increased from low levels. We discuss the potential value of message design that can engender an appropriate level of public concern and increase user engagement on social media.

PurposeAs the epidemic of online fake news is causing major concerns in contexts such as politics and public health, the current study aimed to elucidate the effect of certain “heuristic cues,” or key contextual features, which may increase belief in the credibility and the subsequent sharing of online fake news.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a 2 (news veracity: real vs fake) × 2 (social endorsements: low Facebook “likes” vs high Facebook “likes”) between-subjects experimental design (N = 239).FindingsThe analysis revealed that a high number of Facebook “likes” accompanying fake news increased the perceived credibility of the material compared to a low number of “likes.” In addition, the mediation results indicated that increased perceptions of news credibility may create a situation in which readers feel that it is necessary to cognitively elaborate on the information present in the news, and this active processing finally leads to sharing.Practical implicationsThe results from this study help explicate what drives increased belief and sharing of fake news and can aid in refining interventions aimed at combating fake news for both communities and organizations.Originality/valueThe current study expands upon existing literature, linking the use of social endorsements to perceived credibility of fake news and information, and sheds light on the causal mechanisms through which people make the decision to share news articles on social media.

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