Chatbot Expertise and Correction Sidedness Shaping Resistance to Cultured-Meat Misinformation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66238/fsrma135Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence, Misinformation Correction, Cultured Meat, Persuasive CommunicationAbstract
Cultured meat holds significant potential for sustainable food systems but faces substantial public resistance fueled by widespread misinformation. As generative artificial intelligence chatbots increasingly serve as primary information sources for the general public, their role in correcting dietary and scientific misinformation warrants deep empirical investigation. This study examines how chatbot expertise, specifically manipulated through novice versus expert personas, and correction sidedness, encompassing one-sided versus two-sided messaging, interact to shape user resistance to misinformation regarding cultured meat. Using a fully randomized, between-subjects experimental design, this research measures cognitive elaboration, psychological reactance, and behavioral intentions among adult participants. The theoretical framework integrates Source Credibility Theory and Inoculation Theory to unpack the cognitive and affective mechanisms underlying human-computer interaction in the context of food technology controversies. The findings indicate that chatbots exhibiting high expertise combined with two-sided correction strategies significantly mitigate psychological reactance and foster deeper cognitive elaboration. Conversely, one-sided corrections delivered by expert chatbots can trigger unintended backfire effects among highly skeptical user cohorts, leading to increased entrenchment of preexisting false beliefs. The study advances theoretical understandings of persuasive communication in artificial intelligence environments, offering actionable insights for designing intelligent systems capable of effectively combating scientific misinformation in the food technology domain.
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