ABSTRACT
During highly uncertain times such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is vital to understand and predict individuals' responses to governments' crisis and risk communication. This study draws on the Orientation-Stimulus-Orientation-Response (O-S-O-R) model to examine (1) whether uncertainty reduction motivation (a pre-orientation factor) drove Americans to turn to traditional news media and/or social media (stimuli) to obtain COVID-19 information;(2) if these media preferences shaped their COVID-19 knowledge, cognitive information vetting, and trust in government communication (post-orientation factors);and finally (3) whether these factors contributed to their intended and actual behaviors (responses), such as getting vaccinated. Thus, this study explores how multiple communicative and cognitive mechanisms contribute to public compliance with government health recommendations during a pandemic. Mediation analyses showed positive indirect effects between uncertainty reduction motivation and behavioral outcomes via use of social media (in relation to traditional news media) and COVID-19 knowledge and cognitive information vetting. This study discusses theoretical and practical health communication implications of these findings. © 2023 SAGE Publications.
ABSTRACT
Adopting health preventive actions is one of the most effective ways to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the theory of planned behavior and the orientation-stimulus-orientation-response model, this study investigated the mechanisms by which health information exposure influenced individuals to adopt self-protective behaviors in the context of infectious disease. In this research, a convenience sampling was used and 2265 valid samples (Male = 843, 68.9% of participants aged range from 18 to 24) were collected in China. Structural equation modeling analysis was performed, and the analysis showed that health consciousness positively influenced the subsequent variables through interpersonal discussions and social media exposure to COVID-19-related information. The interaction between interpersonal discussion and social media exposure was found to be positively associated with the elements of the theory of planned behavior and risk perception. The findings also revealed that self-protective behavior was positively predicted by the components of the theory of planned behavior and risk perceptions, with subjective norms serving as the main predictor, followed by attitudes and self-efficacy.
ABSTRACT
Health misinformation has become a salient issue on social media. To lower the risk of health misinformation, fact-checking matters. However, most existing studies investigated fact-checking from the journalism angle, while little is known about how information-seekers' social media use affects their fact-checking behaviors. Also, it remains unclear how individuals' health worry is associated with health fact-checking. Based on the O-S-O-R model, this study explored the underlying mechanism through which health worry and social media might hinder users' fact-checking. Specifically, with a two-wave panel survey conducted in China during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study showed that individuals' worry about COVID-19 increased social media information overload, which resulted in social media fatigue that could reduce health fact-checking. Also, the direct relationship between worry and fact-checking was not significant, but was completely mediated by social media information overload and social media fatigue. The findings demonstrate the negative roles of worry and social media in inhibiting users' fact-checking behaviors. Important theoretical and practical implications for promoting effective factchecking are discussed.