Protecting public's wellbeing against COVID-19 infodemic: The role of trust in information sources and rapid dissemination and transparency of information over time.

Objectives: This study examined how trust in the information about COVID-19 from social media and official media as well as how the information was disseminated affect public's wellbeing directly and indirectly through perceived safety over time. Methods: Two online surveys were conducted in China, with the first survey (Time1, N = 22,718) being at the early stage of the pandemic outbreak and the second one (Time 2, N = 2,901) two and a half years later during the zero-COVID policy lockdown period. Key measured variables include trust in official media and social media, perceived rapid dissemination and transparency of COVID-19-related information, perceived safety, and emotional responses toward the pandemic. Data analysis includes descriptive statistical analysis, independent samples t-test, Pearson correlations, and structural equation modeling. Results: Trust in official media, perceived rapid dissemination and transparency of COVID-19-related information, perceived safety, as well as positive emotional response toward COVID-19 increased over time, while trust in social media and depressive response decreased over time. Trust in social media and official media played different roles in affecting public's wellbeing over time. Trust in social media was positively associated with depressive emotions and negatively associated with positive emotion directly and indirectly through decreased perceived safety at Time 1. However, the negative effect of trust in social media on public's wellbeing was largely decreased at Time 2. In contrast, trust in official media was linked to reduced depressive response and increased positive response directly and indirectly through perceived safety at both times. Rapid dissemination and transparency of COVID-19 information contributed to enhanced trust in official media at both times. Conclusion: The findings highlight the important role of fostering public trust in official media through rapid dissemination and transparency of information in mitigating the negative impact of COVID-19 infodemic on public's wellbeing over time.

A study on the influence of product environmental information transparency on online consumers' purchasing behavior of green agricultural products.

Introduction: In 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 has forced consumers to shift their consumption patterns online. However, the problem of online fraud in green agricultural products seriously undermines consumer trust and is detrimental to the sustainable consumption of green agricultural products. Therefore, it is particularly important to enhance consumers' trust in online sellers. This study aims to investigate how the product environmental information transparency(soil information transparency and water information transparency) affects online consumers' purchasing behavior of green agricultural products. Methods: This study constructs a theoretical framework of "product environmental information transparency - online consumer trust - online purchase behavior".We conducted an online randomized questionnaire to collect data from a sample of 512 consumers who had experience buying green agricultural products online fitted a structural equation model (SEM). Results: The results show that (1) the two dimensions of product environmental information transparency have different effects on different dimensions of online consumer trust. Among them, soil information transparency has a significant positive effect on competence trust, while it does not have a significant positive effect on benevolence trust. Water information transparency has a significant positive effect on both dimensions of online consumer trust, (2) online consumer trust has a significant positive effect on online consumer purchase behavior, and (3) competence trust has a significant positive effect on benevolence trust. Discussion: Our study shows that consumer trust in merchants is significantly enhanced by increasing the transparency of environmental information about green agricultural products. different dimensions of environmental information transparency have different effects on different dimensions of online consumer trust. Product information transparency is proposed as a tool for producers to use in the online marketing of green agricultural products. Consumers' access to information can be improved through online public disclosure of environmental quality indicators in the production process of green agricultural products, and ultimately enhance online consumption of green agricultural products.

The mechanism influencing the residents’ support of the government policy for accelerating tourism recovery under COVID-19

For accelerating the tourism recovery under COVID-19, gaining residents' support is essential. However, residents' negative emotion and their perception of the governments' policies in responding to the COVID-19 may affect their attitude toward this support. The study aims to explore the mechanism of how Quality of Government (QoG) ultimately influences residents' support of the government policy for accelerating tourism recovery. The results of two empirical surveys in Macau and South Korea find that the two components of QoG (policy responsiveness and information transparency) positively influence residents' support of the government policy for accelerating tourism recovery through satisfaction with policy response and trust in government. On the other hand, these two QoG components negatively influence residents’ anxiety, and anxiety further negatively influences trust, but anxiety does not have any effect on satisfaction. The study contributes a satisfaction-trust of the governance model for researchers to taking tourism risk research. Recommendations are provided for governments in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Understanding compliance intention of SNS users during the COVID-19 pandemic: a theory of appraisal and coping

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors affecting the intention of social networking sites (SNS) users to comply with government policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the theory of appraisal and coping, the research model is tested using survey data collected from 326 SNS users. Structural equation modeling is used to test the research model. Findings: The results show that social support has a positive effect on outbreak self-efficacy but has no significant effect on perceived avoidability. Government information transparency positively affects outbreak self-efficacy and perceived avoidability. Outbreak self-efficacy and perceived avoidability have a strong positive impact on policy compliance intention through problem-focused coping. Practical implications: The results suggest that both government and policymakers could deliver reliable pandemic information to the citizens via social media. Originality/value: This study brings novel insights into citizen coping behavior, showing that policy compliance intention is driven by the ability to cope with problems. Moreover, this study enhances the theoretical understanding of the role of social support, outbreak self-efficacy and problem-focused coping. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.