{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,16]],"date-time":"2025-10-16T09:22:54Z","timestamp":1760606574460,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,11,20]],"date-time":"2017-11-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1511136000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["AJIM"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,11,20]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>In the wake of a rumor outbreak, individuals exchange three types of messages: rumor messages, counter-rumor messages, and uncertainty-expressing messages. However, the properties of the three types of messages are relatively unknown particularly in the social media context. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine these three types of messages posted on social media in the wake of a rumor outbreak.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Data included tweets posted after the outbreak of a rumor that wrongly accused the fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) for selling rats instead of chicken. Using a deductive approach, codes were derived via content analysis on the tweets. Volume and exposure of tweets were also examined.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Counter-rumor tweets (52 percent) outnumbered rumors tweets (32 percent) and uncertainty-expressing tweets (16 percent). Emotions and personal involvement were abundant in rumor tweets. Expressions of credence and references to URLs were high in counter-rumor tweets. Social ties were found widely in uncertainty-expressing tweets. The high volume and exposure of counter-rumor tweets compared with those of either rumor tweets or uncertainty-expressing tweets highlight the potential of counter-rumors to mitigate rumors.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This research ventures into a relatively unexplored territory by concurrently examining rumor messages, counter-rumor messages and uncertainty-expressing messages in the wake of a rumor outbreak. It reveals that counter-rumor messages have the potential to mitigate rumors on social media.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/ajim-01-2017-0026","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,9,14]],"date-time":"2017-09-14T07:22:16Z","timestamp":1505373736000},"page":"660-673","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["Does KFC sell rat? Analysis of tweets in the wake of a rumor outbreak"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"69","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7203-7126","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anjan","family":"Pal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Alton Y.K.","family":"Chua","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Dion Hoe-Lian","family":"Goh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"issue":"4","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"587","DOI":"10.1108\/14684521211254086","article-title":"Twitter use by three political leaders: an exploratory analysis","volume":"36","year":"2012","journal-title":"Online Information Review"},{"first-page":"563","article-title":"Globally distributed system developers: their trust expectations and processes","year":"2013","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref002"},{"first-page":"25","article-title":"An understanding of the role of trust in knowledge seeking and acceptance practices in distributed development teams","year":"2011","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref003"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"501","DOI":"10.1086\/265813","article-title":"An analysis of rumor","volume":"10","year":"1946","journal-title":"Public Opinion Quarterly"},{"first-page":"466","article-title":"How information snowballs: exploring the role of exposure in online rumor propagation","year":"2016","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref005"},{"first-page":"317","article-title":"News web page classification using url content and structure attributes","year":"2016","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref006"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"49","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-839X.00093","article-title":"When social psychology became less social: Prasad and the history of rumor research","volume":"5","year":"2002","journal-title":"Asian Journal of Social Psychology"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1177\/019027250406700105","article-title":"Problem solving in social interactions on the Internet: rumor as social cognition","volume":"67","year":"2004","journal-title":"Social Psychology Quarterly"},{"issue":"11","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2309","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1559-1816.2000.tb02438.x","article-title":"Source characteristics in denying rumors of organizational closure: honesty is the best policy","volume":"30","year":"2000","journal-title":"Journal of Applied Social Psychology"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"188","DOI":"10.1080\/08824099809362113","article-title":"Denying rumors of organizational change: a higher source is not always better","volume":"15","year":"1998","journal-title":"Communication Research Reports"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1301","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1559-1816.2005.tb02172.x","article-title":"Rumors denials as persuasive messages: effects of personal relevance, source, and message characteristics","volume":"35","year":"2005","journal-title":"Journal of Applied Social Psychology"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"262","DOI":"10.1108\/AJIM-09-2013-0094","article-title":"Programmed method: developing a toolset for capturing and analyzing tweets","volume":"66","year":"2014","journal-title":"Aslib Journal of Information Management"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"560","DOI":"10.1108\/IntR-05-2012-0095","article-title":"Predicting information credibility in time-sensitive social media","volume":"23","year":"2013","journal-title":"Internet Research"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"218","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dss.2012.01.015","article-title":"What drives consumers to spread electronic word of mouth in online consumer-opinion platforms","volume":"53","year":"2012","journal-title":"Decision Support Systems"},{"first-page":"33","article-title":"Analyzing users\u2019 trust for online health rumors","year":"2015","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref015"},{"key":"key2020120501561902000_ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"547","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2015.08.057","article-title":"Helpfulness of user-generated reviews as a function of review sentiment, product type and information quality","volume":"54","year":"2016","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior"},{"volume-title":"The Watercooler Effect: A Psychologist Explores the Extraordinary Power of Rumors","year":"2008","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref017"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.1108\/APJML-06-2015-0102","article-title":"Guerrilla marketing\u2019s effects on Gen Y\u2019s word-of-mouth intention-a mediation of credibility","volume":"28","year":"2016","journal-title":"Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1020","DOI":"10.1509\/jmr.09.0018","article-title":"From rumors to facts, and facts to rumors: the role of certainty decay in consumer communications","volume":"48","year":"2011","journal-title":"Journal of Marketing Research"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"763","DOI":"10.1007\/s11406-012-9408-z","article-title":"Coverage-reliability, epistemic dependence, and the problem of rumor-based belief","volume":"41","year":"2013","journal-title":"Philosophia"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"260","DOI":"10.1111\/jcom.12085","article-title":"Second screen and participation: a content analysis on a full season dataset of tweets","volume":"64","year":"2014","journal-title":"Journal of Communication"},{"key":"key2020120501561902000_ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"273","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2014.11.008","article-title":"Information dissemination via electronic word-of-mouth: good news travels fast, bad news travels faster!","volume":"45","year":"2015","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"694","DOI":"10.1108\/AJIM-03-2016-0035","article-title":"Does culture matter in effectiveness of social media marketing strategy? An investigation of brand fan pages","volume":"68","year":"2016","journal-title":"Aslib Journal of Information Management"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"146","DOI":"10.1002\/pa.1470","article-title":"Bittersweet! understanding and managing electronic word of mouth","volume":"13","year":"2013","journal-title":"Journal of Public Affairs"},{"key":"key2020120501561902000_ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kostka, J., Oswald, Y.A. and Wattenhofer, R. (2008), \u201cWord of mouth: rumor dissemination in social networks\u201d, in Shvartsman, A.A. and Felber, P. (Eds), Structural Information and Communication Complexity, Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 185-196.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-540-69355-0_16"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"462","DOI":"10.1108\/OIR-05-2012-0082","article-title":"\u2018Gone too soon\u2019: did Twitter grieve for Michael Jackson?","volume":"37","year":"2013","journal-title":"Online Information Review"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"360","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijinfomgt.2016.01.001","article-title":"Predicting positive user responses to social media advertising: the roles of emotional appeal, informativeness, and creativity","volume":"36","year":"2016","journal-title":"International Journal of Information Management"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"326","DOI":"10.1108\/AJIM-10-2015-0155","article-title":"Determinants of effective SoLoMo advertising from the perspective of social capital","volume":"68","year":"2016","journal-title":"Aslib Journal of Information Management"},{"first-page":"965","article-title":"Crowdsourced rumour identification during emergencies","year":"2015","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref029"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref030","first-page":"298","article-title":"Ethical issues in using social media for health and health care research","volume":"110","year":"2013","journal-title":"Health Policy"},{"volume-title":"Ethics in Marketing: International Cases and Perspectives","year":"2016","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref031"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"407","DOI":"10.25300\/MISQ\/2013\/37.2.05","article-title":"Community Intelligence and social media services: a rumor theoretic analysis of tweets during social crises","volume":"37","year":"2013","journal-title":"MIS Quarterly"},{"year":"2010","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref033","article-title":"An exploration of social media in extreme events: rumor theory and Twitter during the Haiti Earthquake 2010"},{"first-page":"994","article-title":"What to expect when the unexpected happens: social media communications across crises","year":"2015","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref034"},{"first-page":"2406","article-title":"Combating rumor spread on social media: the effectiveness of refutation and warning","year":"2015","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref035"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref036","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"484","DOI":"10.1037\/0003-066X.46.5.484","article-title":"Inside rumor: a personal journey","volume":"46","year":"1991","journal-title":"American Psychologist"},{"key":"key2020120501561902000_ref037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"182","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2013.10.013","article-title":"Value co-creation and purchase intention in social network sites: the role of electronic word-of-mouth and trust \u2013 a theoretical analysis","volume":"31","year":"2014","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref038","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"57","DOI":"10.1094\/CFW-60-1-0057","article-title":"Science versus politics: who holds the trump card?","volume":"60","year":"2015","journal-title":"Cereal Foods World"},{"year":"2014","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref039","article-title":"Rumors, false flags, and digital vigilantes: misinformation on twitter after the 2013 boston marathon bombing"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref040","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.2753\/MIS0742-1222290408","article-title":"Emotions and information diffusion in social media \u2013 sentiment of microblogs and sharing behavior","volume":"29","year":"2013","journal-title":"Journal of Management Information Systems"},{"key":"key2020120501561902000_ref041","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sun, S., Liu, H., He, J. and Du, X. (2013), \u201cDetecting event rumors on sina weibo automatically\u201d, in Ishikawa, Y., Li, J., Wang, W., Zhang, R. and Zhang, W. (Eds), Web Technologies and Applications, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 120-131.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-37401-2_14"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref042","first-page":"1","article-title":"Rumor diffusion and convergence during the 3.11 earthquake: a Twitter case study","volume":"10","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"first-page":"520","article-title":"The impact of posting URLs in disaster-related tweets on rumor spreading behavior","year":"2014","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref043"},{"key":"key2020120501561902000_ref060","first-page":"149","article-title":"Towards combating rumors in social networks: Models and metrics","volume-title":"Intelligent Data Analysis","year":"2013"},{"first-page":"643","article-title":"What\u2019s in a hashtag? Content based prediction of the spread of ideas in microblogging communities","year":"2012","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref044"},{"key":"key2020120501561902000_ref045","unstructured":"Williamson, K., Given, L. and Scifleet, P. (2013), \u201cQualitative data analysis\u201d, in Williamson, K.K. and Johanson, G. (Eds), Research Methods: Information, Systems, and Contexts, Tilde Publishing, Victoria, pp. 476-491."},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref046","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1361","DOI":"10.1007\/s11135-014-0051-6","article-title":"Twitter hashtags for health: applying network and content analyses to understand the health knowledge sharing in a Twitter-based community of practice","volume":"49","year":"2015","journal-title":"Quality & Quantity"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref047","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"286","DOI":"10.1108\/AJIM-12-2015-0200","article-title":"Exploring digital library usage for getting information from the ELM perspective: the moderating effect of information need","volume":"68","year":"2016","journal-title":"Aslib Journal of Information Management"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020120501561902000_ref048","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"250","DOI":"10.1108\/AJIM-09-2013-0083","article-title":"A topology of Twitter research: disciplines, methods, and ethics","volume":"66","year":"2014","journal-title":"Aslib Journal of Information Management"}],"container-title":["Aslib Journal of Information Management"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/AJIM-01-2017-0026\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/AJIM-01-2017-0026\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T23:00:13Z","timestamp":1753398013000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/ajim\/article\/69\/6\/660-673\/23309"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,11,20]]},"references-count":49,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,11,20]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/AJIM-01-2017-0026"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/ajim-01-2017-0026","relation":{},"ISSN":["2050-3806"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"2050-3806"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,11,20]]}}}