Misinformation and fake news have been one of the foremost phenomenon of recent years, but there is a sense that most attempts to misinform have been focused around political and scientific topics.  A recent study from North Carolina reminds us that brands can also be victims.

“There’s been a lot of work done on how the public processes and responds to fake news on social media in the context of politics, but very little research has been done on how fake news may affect brand trust,” the researchers explain. “We wanted to see what kind of impact fake news could have for companies.”

The researchers examined a false story that was circulating on Facebook in 2016 that suggested Coca-Cola had been recalling bottles of its Dasani water because they detected parasites in them.  They showed the story to several hundred consumers, none of whom were told the story was false.  The volunteers were then asked to complete a survey, during which they were told the story was not real.  They then completed another series of questions after the revelation.

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The data suggests that when people were generally better able to spot misinformation, they were more likely to view such posts as a deliberate attempt to manipulate readers.  The trust people had in Facebook as a platform also mattered, with those with lower trust more inclined to think that posts were fake.

The researchers believe their results highlight how trust is so important in our assessment of the information we consume, both in terms of the platform we consume it on, and the subject of the story itself.

“One takeaway here is that when communicating the truth in response to a fake news story, such as when Coca-Cola made clear that it was not recalling Dasani, managers need to consider the trustworthiness of each media channel and choose the appropriate media channels to communicate with consumers,” the authors conclude. “It would be interesting to see how fake news might impact less established brands in the future.”