Getting ahead of the pandemic curve: A systematic review of critical determining factors for innovation adoption in ensuring food security.

The imminent threat to food security requires immediate intervention toward ensuring societal sustainability especially in combating the pandemic. The rapid spread of COVID-19 cases has caused concern for food security. A recent outlook report produced by Food Agricultural Organization and World Food Programme (FAO-WTP) highlights that there are at least 20 countries that are faced with a looming threat of food availability between the period of March-July 2021. Other factors that pose a significant threat to food security include climate change and natural disasters which could significantly reduce the yield. It is hence imperative to gain an in-depth understanding of factors that influence farmers' choices in innovation adoption for increased yield. A line of research has been conducted across the globe on new technology adoption and effect of innovation that aims to increase productivity and yield. This study examined the key factors, that lead farmers to the adoption of new technology and innovation, reported in studies over the past 15 years. PRISMA-P (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols) was employed based on the SCOPUS and Web of Science database. In creating the main dataset, a protocol was developed in advance to document the analysis method. Several inclusion (eligibility) and exclusion criteria were set to select related articles from a total of 2,136 papers. The thematic and content analyses were subsequently performed on 392 research articles. The findings indicate 4 over-arching segments, and 12 major determinants, that comprise 62 associate determinants. The paper concludes with the identification of critical factors for innovation adoption amongst farmers.

How Does Social Media Influence People to Get Vaccinated? The Elaboration Likelihood Model of a Person's Attitude and Intention to Get COVID-19 Vaccines.

The global COVID-19 mass vaccination program has created a polemic amongst pro- and anti-vaccination groups on social media. However, the working mechanism on how the shared information might influence an individual decision to be vaccinated is still limited. This study embarks on adopting the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) framework. We examined the function of central route factors (information completeness and information accuracy) as well as peripheral route factors (experience sharing and social pressure) in influencing attitudes towards vaccination and the intention to obtain the vaccine. We use a factorial design to create eight different scenarios in the form of Twitter posts to test the interaction and emulate the situation on social media. In total, 528 respondents were involved in this study. Findings from this study indicated that both the central route and peripheral route significantly influence individually perceived informativeness and perceived persuasiveness. Consequently, these two factors significantly influence attitude towards vaccination and intention to obtain the vaccine. According to the findings, it is suggested that, apart from evidence-based communication, the government or any interested parties can utilize both experience sharing and social pressure elements to increase engagement related to COVID-19 vaccines on social media, such as Twitter.

Innovation Diffusion: The Influence of Social Media Affordances on Complexity Reduction for Decision Making.

Social media is a prominent communication platform. Its active usage permeates all generations and it is imperative that the platform be fully optimized for knowledge transfer and innovation diffusion. However, there are several considerations regarding platform usage, including media affordances. Social media affordances enable users to interact with the world around them through features of modality, agency, interactivity, and navigation. Previous studies have indicated that social media affordances significantly influence user behavior and usage. However, research exploring the effect of social media affordances on knowledge acquisition and the reduction of decision-making complexities is limited. Therefore, focusing on 179 paddy farmers in Malaysia, this study examined the effect of social media affordances on information quality, knowledge acquisition, and complexity reduction regarding innovation adoption decisions using a quantitative approach. This study's findings reveal that social media affordances have a significant effect on perceived information quality, knowledge acquisition, and complexity reduction.