Facts don't matter if people aren't tuned in.

Many of us have been wondering how people can continue to believe the fake news that is flowing freely out there these days even when presented with facts to the contrary. 

We've already discussed the primacy theory, which says that people tend to believe the first thing that they hear.  And selective perception which allows them to filter out conflicting information in order to avoid cognitive dissonance.  That's the uncomfortable feeling that you get when something contradicts what you believe to be true.  Here's a blog about those concepts...

http://pjlehrer.blogspot.com/2018/01/if-you-want-people-to-believe-you-you.html

Then there is the disturbing finding that if we hear a lie often enough we think it is true.  This happens because we mistake familiarity for truth.  That's when you say - "I think I've heard that before..."  Here's a blog about that...

http://pjlehrer.blogspot.com/2018/01/if-you-tell-lie-often-enough-people.html

But there's another piece of the puzzle that we haven't discussed yet.  And that's the role that involvement, or lack thereof plays in the equation. 

Research tells us that when people are involved in an issue then they are responsive to strong central arguments.  But when they are not involved they tend to rely on credibility and context. 

Think about that a moment.  After multiple years of hearing that reliable news sources are in fact sharing fake news, a lie they now believe, people no longer listen to the facts no matter how well supported they are, but instead discount them based on the perceived lack of credibility of the source. (Haugtvedt, Petty, Cacioppo, 1992)

This takes us back to the finding that all decisions are emotional.  And makes a strong case for abandoning facts altogether when trying to persuade someone to change their mind.

Haugtvedt, C., Petty, R., Cacioppo, J. (1992)  Need for Cognition and Advertising: Understanding the Role of Personality Variables in Consumer Behavior.  Journal of Consumer Psychology.  Retrieved July 25, 2018, from

https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/39532519/Need_For_Cognition_and_Advertising_Under20151029-18831-1k2i7ox.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1532525675&Signature=odBCuZ4ygT51%2BVoHfNt6U50u5W8%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DNeed_for_Cognition_and_Advertising_Under.pdf