How moral brand transgressions impact perceptions of social media message credibility

• Moral relevance of brand transgression news affects perceived credibility. • Non-moral brand transgressions are less credible on social media (vs. online news) • Moral brand transgressions are equally credible on social media (vs. online news) • News of moral (vs. non-moral) brand transgressions is more credible on social media. • Previous estimates of social media credibility may be underestimated. Although consumers report a lack of trust in social media as a credible channel for news (i.e., the social media credibility gap), brands are still negatively affected by outrage stemming from information shared over social media. We demonstrate that this paradox can be explained by biased credibility perceptions that arise after learning about moral brand transgressions over this low-credibility channel. Specifically, across three studies (and two replications), we show that learning about a moral brand transgression over social media mitigates the prevalent tendency to view information conveyed over social media as less credible. For a moral brand transgression, this credibility gap is mitigated due to heightened credibility perceptions, fostering higher outrage and a greater desire for revenge than for a non-moral transgression. In contrast, for a non-moral brand transgression, this credibility gap holds, as content received via social media is perceived as less credible than content from online news media.