International Journal of Cyber Society and Education, Vol 2, No 1 (2009)

The Factors of Influencing College Student's Belief in Consumption-type Internet Rumors

Chaoyun Liang, Wen-Shou Chou, Yu-Ling Hsu

Abstract


The study is aimed at exploring the factors of influencing college student's belief in consumption-type Internet rumors. A special interest is facused on the correlative causality of “source credibility,” “affection,” and “involvement,” which are operated as the main variable effects on college students’ belief in these rumors. By using “involvement” as a moderator, this study analyzes its correlation with the other factors. This study is designed to awaken college students’ attention to messages on the Internet, and to provide suggestions for the enterprises. The findings of this study include: (1) both source credibility and involvement have positive effects on the college students’ belief in consumption-type Internet rumors; (2) affection has a partial effect on the college students’ belief in consumption-type Internet rumors without causal relation; and (3) both source credibility and involvement have positive effects on the college students’ belief in consumption-type Internet rumors under different involvements.

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