Countering Corporate Misinformation: A Meta-Analysis of Public Relations Interventions

The rapid spread of fake news, rumors, and astroturfing poses a significant threat to organizations. While many intervention strategies have been tested in recent years, the field remains characterized by fragmented findings and context-specific results. Responding to the critical need for cumulative evidence in public relations scholarship, this study employs a meta-analytic approach to systematically assess the overall effectiveness of interventions intended to counter potential misinformation. Across 13 studies (N = 5,650), public relations responses yielded a small to medium-sized negative effect on belief in misinformation (d = −0.24), a medium-sized positive effect on belief in the organization’s corrective communication (d = 0.44), and a small positive effect on pro-organization attitudes and intentions (d = 0.19). Among the specific strategies examined, prebunking emerged as a particularly promising approach. The findings suggest that while current public relations interventions are preferable to inaction, they are often insufficient for fully addressing the growing threat of false claims. By integrating disparate experimental data, this study offers robust quantitative evidence to guide future public relations theory building and evidence-based practice.