• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2020

Online rumor creates psychological stress and image loss for victims. Prior studies related to online rumor did not consider the online environmental factor, despite the fact that online rumor occurs in the online space. Therefore, this study tried to investigate the influence of online characteristics on online rumor. This study considered perceived anonymity, lack of social presence, and perceived dissemination as online characteristics. We established and demonstrated a research model in which online characteristics affect online rumor behavior through attitude toward online rumor. This study obtained the sample of 201 social network users based on the survey and verified the research model using PLS tool. The results provided that perceived anonymity and perceived dissemination influenced online rumor behavior through attitude toward online rumor. On the other hand, lack of social presence was not significant. The findings of this study provide the fact that an individual's online rumor behavior can be caused by online characteristics. This study suggests that we pay attention to the role of perceived anonymity and perceived dissemination for online rumor behavior.