In These Uncertain Times: Fake News Amplifies the Desires to Save and Spend in Response to COVID-19

Justin Pomerance, Nicholas Light and Lawrence E. Williams

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2022, vol. 7, issue 1, 45 - 53

Abstract: COVID-19 is changing human history. However, it arrived on the heels of another crisis: fake news. We examine how fake news influences consumers’ spending intentions in response to COVID-19. Across three studies we find that concerns about COVID-19 engender uncertainty, and that exposure to fake news amplifies this effect. This uncertainty increases consumers’ tendency toward two competing goals: compensatory consumption and resource conservation. We present three studies in which we measure consumers’ general preferences (study 1), their specific preferences with respect to buying food at a restaurant (study 2), and their choices when selecting from a meal delivery service (study 3). Our findings have important implications for both marketing practitioners and policy makers, which we discuss throughout.

Date: 2022
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