The Demand for News

Accuracy Concerns Versus Belief Confirmation Motives

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9709484
AutoresFelix Chopra (0000-0002-7621-1045, University of Copenhagen, CEBI , Denmark), Ingar Haaland (0000-0001-7679-8272, NHH Norwegian School of Economics , Norway), Christopher Roth (0000-0003-2806-7402, University of Cologne, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen134
Número661
Páginas1806-1834
Fecha de publicación2024-06-19
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ej/ueae019
OpenAlexW4392885973
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas32

We examine the relative importance of accuracy concerns and belief confirmation motives in driving the demand for news. In experiments with US voters, we first vary beliefs about whether an outlet reports the news in a right-wing biased, left-wing biased or unbiased way. We then measure demand for a newsletter covering articles from this outlet. Right-wing voters strongly reduce their demand for left-wing biased news, but not for right-wing biased news. The reverse patterns hold for left-wing voters. These results suggest a trade-off between accuracy concerns and belief confirmation motives. We quantify this trade-off using a structural model and find a similar quantitative importance of both motives

Economics · Positive economics · Media Influence and Politics · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology