What We Found Will Blow Your Mind: The Impact of Hyperbole on Reader Interest and News Reading Intentions

Abstract

News posts are popular among social media users. Since the reading of news is critical for both social media platforms and news providers, it is common practice for news providers to use attention-grabbing tactics, such as hyperbole, in an effort to pique user’s interest. However, there is scant empirical evidence to support that these tactics are effective. Our paper explores how and why the use of hyperbolic statements in news headlines influences users’ interest and intention to read the news. Drawing on humor and psychological contract violation literatures, we developed a theoretical model and proposed competing hypotheses. We conducted two experiments to examine the impact of hyperbole and test the competing mechanisms. Our findings challenge the prevailing notion that the use of attention-grabbing tactics, such as hyperbole, in news headlines are effective