Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic amplified the influence of information reporting on human behavior, as people were forced to quickly adapt to a new health threatening situation by relying on new information. Drawing from protection-motivation and cognitive load theories, we formulated a structural model eliciting the impact of the three online information sources: (1) social media, (2) official websites, and (3) other online news sources; on motivation to adopt recommended COVID-19 preventive measures. The model was tested with the data collected from university employees and students (n = 225) in March 2020 through an online survey and analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). We observed that social media and other online news sources increased information overload amongst the online information sources. This, in turn, negatively affected individuals' self-isolation intention by increasing perceived response costs and decreasing response efficacy. The study highlights the role of online information sources on preventive behaviors during pandemics.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 101573 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Technology in Society |
| Volume | 65 |
| Early online date | 3 Apr 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 31 May 2021 |
Keywords
- information overload
- online information sources
- social media
- coronavirus
- COVID-19
- protection motivation theory
- self-isolation
- hygienic care