ABSTRACT
This study examined the associations of emotions, cognitions, and behavioral intentions in response to exposure to news stories reporting on the arrival of Omicron variant in Vietnam. Outcomes included fear, anxiety, anger, comparative optimism, intentions to conduct prevention behavior (wash hands with soap), detection behavior (test for Omicron infection), and share health information. Two experiments were conducted with participants being randomized to either low-risk or high-risk condition that contained information promoting hand-washing with soap (Experiment 1, N = 303), or information promoting COVID-19 testing (Experiment 2, N = 303). Results indicated that viewing high-risk news stories led to higher fear, anxiety, and anger than low-risk news stories. Fear fully mediated the effect of news exposure on intentions to test for Omicron infection and share health information. Comparative optimism moderated the indirect effect of news exposure on intentions to wash hands with soap and share information about COVID-19 testing. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
ABSTRACT
The present study focused on the success story of Vietnam's ability to control the COVID-19 outbreak in the early stages to examine the associations between exposure to the Vietnam Ministry of Health's COVID-19 prevention social media campaign messages, interpersonal communication, attitudes, perceived norms, self-efficacy, and intentions to stay at home. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with residents in Ho Chi Minh City (N = 360). Results from mediation analyses indicated that interpersonal communication mediated the effect of social media campaign exposure on intentions to stay at home. Moreover, interpersonal communication shaped injunctive norms and self-efficacy that were conducive to behavioral intentions. These results underscored the need to leverage the power of social media and interpersonal communication in public health campaigns to prevent infectious outbreaks.
