  Digital information exchange enables quick creation and sharing of
information and thus changes existing habits. Social media is becoming the main
source of news for end-users replacing traditional media. This also enables the
proliferation of fake news, which misinforms readers and is used to serve the
interests of the creators. As a result, automated fake news detection systems
are attracting attention. However, automatic fake news detection presents a
major challenge; content evaluation is increasingly becoming the responsibility
of the end-user. Thus, in the present study we used information quality (IQ) as
an instrument to investigate how users can detect fake news. Specifically, we
examined how users perceive fake news in the form of shorter paragraphs on
individual IQ dimensions. We also investigated which user characteristics might
affect fake news detection. We performed an empirical study with 1123 users,
who evaluated randomly generated stories with statements of various level of
correctness by individual IQ dimensions. The results reveal that IQ can be used
as a tool for fake news detection. Our findings show that (1) domain knowledge
has a positive impact on fake news detection; (2) education in combination with
domain knowledge improves fake news detection; and (3) personality trait
conscientiousness contributes significantly to fake news detection in all
dimensions.
