Seminar: Market-oriented Disinformation Research

Assistant Professor Carlos Diaz Ruiz, Hanken School of Economics, Finland

Title: Market-oriented Disinformation Research. 

Summary: The digital transformation of advertising on social media has resulted in anonline marketplace for attention in which traditional news providers compete with social media influencers. This has had a commercially devastating effect on local news providers. In addition, it catalyzed the rapid circulation of disinformation. To be precise, social media platforms have economic incentives to maximize engagement. Their business model nudges content creators to publish controversial and charged messages for clicks and likes because provocative content is financially valuable. Since controversial and emotional content is highly engaging, it is unsurprising that creators publish it. However, this kind of content facilitates the spread of manipulated or intentionally harmful information by malicious actors, whether domestic or foreign. Ultimately, disinformation thrives in a marketplace for clicks where social media, memes, and bots are strategically used to make content appear more popular in order to capture advertising revenue.

TLDR: The seminar will discuss the business models that nudge content creators and platforms to circulate disinformation on social media. It explains how consumer researchers can study the rapid circulation of disinformation online by focusing on its market practices. 

Bio: Carlos Diaz Ruiz, Ph.D. (Economics and Business Administration) is a business academic specializing in market-shaping, consumer culture, and disinformation research. He is an Assistant Professor (tenure track) of Marketing and Consumer Insights at Hanken School of Economics in Finland. Previously, Dr. Diaz Ruiz was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and an Assistant Professor at Kedge Business School in Bordeaux, France. Dr. Diaz Ruiz has published research in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals, including the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing & Public Policy,Marketing Theory, and Industrial Marketing Management.

Background reading

Academic article (the long version)

• Diaz Ruiz (2024) Disinformation on digital media platforms: A market-shaping approach. New Media & Society

Media Articles (the short version)

• Diaz Ruiz (2023) Disinformation is part and parcel of social media’s business model, new research shows. The Conversation