Measuring the Construct of Warranting Value and Testing Warranting Theory

Abstract

Warranting theory has been used extensively to explain how people evaluate information across a variety of online settings. However, no validated measurement instrument exists to assess the construct of warranting value that is at the core of the theory. Two studies were conducted to develop and validate a General Warranting Value Scale and three scales that assess specific forms of information control: Modification Control, Dissemination Control, and Source Obfuscation. In addition, we tested predictions of warranting theory using multiple stimuli and samples-including a nationally representative sample of adults. Overall, evidence for scale validity was obtained: Confirmatory factor analyses were consistent with measurement model fit. All scales were sensitive to theoretically predicted manipulations and were correlated with theoretically predicted outcomes.

How Affiliation Disclosure and Control Over User-Generated Comments Affects Consumer Health Knowledge and Behavior: A Randomized Controlled Experiment of Pharmaceutical Direct-to-Consumer Advertising on Social Media

“…The extent to which Darby Pharmaceuticals was perceived to control what comments appeared on the Facebook post was assessed with items validated in previous work [ 30 ]. Four items measured on 7-point scales were used with endpoints ranging from extremely unlikely to extremely likely (α=.97).…”

Persuasiveness of online product recommendations : the roles of warranting theory and credibility

“…Research has found three conceptually distinct mechanisms that influence the warranting value of online claims: modification control, dissemination control, and source obfuscation (see for review DeAndrea & Carpenter, 2016). These mechanisms are methods of information control that shape people's perceptions as to whether certain information has greater or lesser warranting value.…”

“…Modification control is the extent to which a communicator has edited information that describes or pertains to him or her (DeAndrea & Carpenter, 2016).…”

“…Information about an individual has lesser warranting value when the information seems to have been modified by the individual in question. DeAndrea and Carpenter (2016) give the example of a wiki-Wikipedia, or any community-based collaborative site that allows users to contribute and edit information-as a medium that grants users greater modification control and therefore has lesser warranting value than other media. In an experiment, participants gave less favorable ratings to an individual after viewing an edited forum post about that individual than after viewing an unedited forum post about that individual (DeAndrea, Van Der Heide, & Easley, 2015).…”

“…Dissemination control is the extent to which a communicator has controlled the publishing of information pertaining to himself or herself (DeAndrea & Carpenter, 2016). DeAndrea (2012) argued that owners of social media accounts have dissemination control to the extent that they can delete others' comments on their profiles.…”