In a world where misinformation spreads faster than fact, a new study is offering insight into why so many people fall for fake news, even when they suspect it's false.

Researchers from Georgia State's Robinson College of Business, Kennesaw State University, and the University of Tennessee have developed a model that explains how emotional cues, rather than accuracy, shape the way we consume and share news on social media.

The study, "Tabloids, Fake News, and the Overton Window: The COP Model on News Consumption in Uncertain Times," co-authored by Aaron French, Amrita George, Joshua Madden and Veda C. Storey, was published in Information Systems Frontiers.

At the heart of the research is a simple question: Why do people believe and spread fake news, and do people consume fake news in the same way they consume tabloids?

Previous studies largely pointed to belief in fake news as confirmation bias, which is the tendency to believe information that supports your existing worldview. But this new study suggests something deeper is going on, especially during times of uncertainty like the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We found that people do consume fake news differently than tabloid news, which is largely consumed for entertainment and not taken seriously. With fake news, people are believing and sharing it because it feels useful either emotionally or informationally," said Amrita George, co-author and clinical assistant professor of computer information systems(CIS) at Robinson.

In other words: fake news scratches an emotional itch. And in anxious, unstable times, that emotional itch is more powerful than truth.