Memes and political misinformation: An experimental study on the role of format, source, and attachment to political leaders

Abstract This study investigates the perceived credibility of statements (i.e., belief in the truth of the claim) and engagement with misleading political messages, focusing on the influence of format (meme vs. social media post) and source (political leader vs. ordinary user). Given the use of memes by politicians and the personalization of politics, a key question is whether memes are perceived as credible and engaging, and how attachment to a leader mediates this effect. In randomized survey experiments with Italian citizens, we exposed participants to statements made by politicians, manipulating the source and the format. The findings indicate that messages from political leaders using memes are not significantly more likely to be judged as true or engaging than those in a standard social media post format, but the same messages are less likely to be judged as true when originating from an ordinary user. While positive feelings toward a leader increase the credibility of the statement and engagement, this attachment has a negligible impact on the effect of the meme versus post format.