Remedial behavior for misinformation: A moderated mediation model of remedial attitude and perceived consequence severity

Given the accessibility and anonymity features of social media platforms, ordinary users have emerged as facilitators of misinformation dissemination. An effective countermeasure is to encourage these users share fact-checking, which not only curbs the further dissemination of false information but also rectifies the beliefs of those previously misinformed. Based on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and Social Exchange Theory (SET), this study constructed the influencing factors model of remedial behavior for misinformation. Ten research hypotheses were proposed and tested through the analysis by SmartPLS of 403 valid questionnaires collected from China in 2021. The results showed that for remedial attitude, it is self-efficacy, outcome expectation and perceived remedial effect of fact-checking that are positively correlated, while the perceived responsibility of misinformation and perceived risk are negatively correlated; remedial attitude are positively correlated with remedial behavior intention; fact-checking persuasion and reference group influence are both positively related to remedial attitude and remedial behavior intention, respectively. Additionally, this study verified the remedial attitude's mediating role as well as the perceived consequence severity's moderating role in remedial behavior. We also explored whether the mediating effect of remedial attitude on remedial behavior was moderated by perceived consequence severity. This work could enrich the achievements in the field of social media users' information sharing behavior, and offer actionable insights for addressing misinformation.