Meta‐information, and time: Factors in human decision making

“Information” rarely arrives on our desk in splendid and anonymous isolation: It usually comes accompanied by various characteristics, one of which is its source. With a brief glance at the information, we look to see which person said it or sent it, or which organization supported it, or which journal it was published in. Perhaps unfortunately, the amount of attention given to the item of information may well stem from the perceived credibility level of its source. As an important facet of meta‐information (i.e., information about the information being used for the decision), the impact of the credibility level of a source needs to be addressed and understood by any science of information. Information professionals most particularly need to be aware of the impact and effects of source credibility as they are, after all, often gatekeepers; as gatekeepers of information, they need to be aware of what it is that influences their perceptions of information quality, and thus what it is that influences their subsequent dissemination of the information. This article reports the results of experiments examining just one such influence: That of source credibility. Does, for instance, high credibility of an information source affect the way the information is used, and thus affect the product? To answer this question, information provided by organizations of varying levels of credibility was used in decision making tasks. The effects were examined under two conditions: When there was ample time, and when there were severe time constraints. Results confirmed that both source credibility and time influenced decisions, but when time and credibility were analyzed concurrently, the effects of source credibility weakened. Reasons for this unexpected outcome are offered in the article.