Tsang, Stephanie JeanStephanie JeanTsangZheng, JingweiJingweiZhengDr. LI Wenshu, JessicaJessicaDr. LI WenshuSalaudeen, Mistura AdebusolaMistura AdebusolaSalaudeen2025-09-112025-09-112023Online Information Review, 2023, vol. 47(7), pp. 1415-1429.1468-45271468-4535http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11861/25190<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>Given the rapid growth in efforts on misinformation correction, the study aims to test how evidence type and veracity interact with news agreement on the effectiveness of fact-checking on how well a corrective message discount a false news information.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>Experimental participants (<jats:italic>N</jats:italic> = 511) in Hong Kong were exposed to the same news article and then to a piece of corrective information debunking the news article with variation in the types of evidence (numerical vs narrative) and veracity (no verdict vs half false vs entirely false) in 2019.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>Among the participants who disagreed with the news article, numerical fact-checking was more effective than narrative fact-checking in discounting the news article. Some evidence of the backfire effect was found among participants for whom the article was attitude incongruent.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>When debunking false information with people exposed to attitude-incongruent news, a milder verdict presented in the form of a half-false scale can prompt a more positive perception of the issue at stake than an entirely false scale, implying that a less certain verdict can help in mitigating the backfire effect compared to a certain verdict.</jats:p></jats:sec>enEvidence TypeFact-CheckingPsychological ReactancePolitical CommunicationVeracityHong KongPeer Reviewed Journal Article10.1108/OIR-09-2022-0492