Repetition Increases Belief in Food and Nutrition (Mis)Information, But Nonprobative Images May Not

Abstract: Food (il)literacy has major health implications, calling for a better understanding of how people form accurate and inaccurate beliefs about food and nutrition. In three high-powered preregistered studies, we tested whether repetition (repeated vs. new claims, Study 1) and nonprobative images (claims with vs. without a nonprobative image, Studies 2a and 2b) influence truth judgments about correct and incorrect food and nutrition claims. In Study 1, we found that repetition increases truth judgments regardless of claim truth status, suggesting repetition-induced belief for correct and inaccurate food and nutrition information. In Studies 2a and 2b, nonprobative images showed no significant effects despite relatively high statistical power. As a communication tool, repetition could aid food literacy, yet also foster food illiteracy.