Tricked into supporting: An experimental assessment on the role of info-cues and cognitive scarcity in the proliferation of propaganda content on social media

Social Networking Platforms (SNPs) have revolutionised the very conception of communication by enabling their users to perform an unprecedentedly active role in the production and dissemination of information. In the light of recent attempts of exploiting SNPs for disseminating polarising and often fabricated political content, it is of crucial importance understanding how the performance of this active role may foster the diffusion of such malicious messages. Indeed, though this online form of political manipulation massively employs automated tools to increase the reach of its pernicious content, numerous studies have highlighted how social media users’ decision of sharing such content actually plays a pivotal role in its diffusion. Therefore, this paper aims at identifying and assessing the factors underlying this sharing habit, considered to be crucial steps in the development of effective countermeasures. Drawing from the Dual-Process Theory scholarship, the claim maintained is that the likelihood of sharing such pernicious messages increases when information they convey is processed by means of heuristic thinking, a cognitive mechanism that eases the cognitive load but enhances the risk of producing systematically biased deliberations. The hypothesis is that this heuristic thinking is triggered by two distinct factors: info-cues embedded in these propaganda messages, that are designed to trigger specific heuristics that favour the diffusion of information; and cognitive scarcity (i.e., a lack of cognitive resources due to external burdens) that, when experienced, increases the likelihood of relying on heuristic thinking. To test this hypothesis, a Discrete Choice Experiment has been designed and implemented. On the basis of previously conducted analyses on tweets conveying this kind of political messages, five typologies of info-cues, each triggering a set of heuristics deemed relevant for enhancing information diffusion, were identified and used as the attributes for the experiment. Subsequently, a pool of tweets containing different levels of these attributes have been ad hoc designed, taking as reference category existing tweets to avoid compromising ecological validity. To assess the role different info-cues have on sharing habits, participants were presented with twenty couples of tweets randomly drawn from this pool and were asked to identify, for each couple: the tweet they deemed more credible and accurate; the one they would share. To test for the impact of cognitive scarcity on social media users’ sharing behaviour, participants were split into two groups. The treatment group was then asked to complete a secondary task inducing cognitive load before performing the choice task, in order for the decision on the tweets to be taken while affected by cognitive scarcity. Once participants completed all tasks, they were asked to fill in a questionnaire assessing, among other aspects, their political orientation, digital literacy, demographic characteristics. Preliminary results from the pilot study seem to corroborate the hypothesis, showing a determinant role of heuristic thinking on social media users’ sharing habits. Such insights offer new perspectives on the role human cognition has in the dissemination and proliferation of political information, that can inform new strategies for tackling this pernicious form of online political manipulation.