Fake news: When the dark side of persuasion takes over

Abstract

In this essay, fake news is identified as a sinister form of mass persuasion. The paper reviews the history of the precursors of the construct and offers a contemporary definition. Research findings about how consumers process fake news information are discussed. The essay highlights the relevance of fake news for the marketing communications field and ends with a call to action to researchers for the development of effective interventions.

Keywords:

• Fake news
• deception
• information processing
• truth judgments
• social media