TL;DR
Even when investors learn that an analyst's comment was about a different company, a false story still shifts their view of the original stock, revealing that humans are storytelling animals and that debunking cannot fully erase the damage.
Imagine you own shares in company A. You hear an analyst raised its price target, but later learn it was actually for company B. Would that change your view? Most people say no, but an experiment reveals a troubling answer.
The difference between numbers and stories
Researchers ran a test: one group only heard the false price-target information; another group also heard a flattering story about "the company's" leadership — which was actually about B. The number-only people were barely affected, but the story listeners, even after being told the story was about B, became noticeably more optimistic about A.
The staying power of stories
Why? Because humans are storytelling animals. Numbers are easy to forget and easy to dismiss, but a story, once told, roots itself in memory. Even if you know it is false, it still colours your judgment. This is why misinformation on social media is so hard to kill: a vivid tale outlives any retraction.
The limits of debunking
Even when people admit a story is false, its influence lingers. The harm is done at the moment of reading. Debunking stops new damage but heals little of the old.
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