Official social media and its impact on public behavior during the first wave of COVID-19 in China

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Communication and COVID-19 Impact Public Relations and Crisis Communication Risk Perception and Management

Abstract

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, official social media became a critical channel for the public to obtain pandemic information. No matter the positive function or negative effect of information dissemination, it involves the public's risk perception and behavior. This study was designed to contribute to the existing research on how official social media information quality (IQ) and risk perception (RP) affect preventive behavior (PB) and continued use behavior (CB) of official social media during the first wave of COVID-19. METHODS: The required data were extracted from a national online survey of the Chinese Mainland during March 24-30 2020, a random sample was asked to participate in the survey (n = 666). Data analysis was performed using regression analysis, structural equation modeling, mediating effect analysis, and one-way ANOVA analysis. RESULTS: The results show that IQ (10.010 ± 3.568) has direct and indirect positive impact on PB (9.475 ± 3.571), and has a low significant positive indirect impact on CB (3.739 ± 1.566). The IQ has a significant positive impact on RP (β = 0.548), which show that there is no "risk perception paradox" in COVID-19. Furth more, this study also provides new evidence indicating that RP mediates the relationship between IQ and PB. According to the region, gender, age and annual income, and there are significant differences in PB and CB. CONCLUSION: The study findings have remarkable implications for improving the information quality and public behaviors. Too high or too low level of risk perception is not conducive to pandemic prevention and control. Official social media should indirectly affect information flow through the reasonable supply of pandemic information and constantly improve the quality of pandemic information to avoid public's undue panic and excessive health concerns during this ongoing outbreak and subsequent national public emergency events.

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1989Structural Equations with Latent Variables 2018Correlation Coefficients: Appropriate Use and Interpretation 1996Beyond Accuracy: What Data Quality Means to Data Consumers 1988The Social Amplification of Risk: A Conceptual Framework 2012The Risk Perception Paradox—Implications for Governance and Communication of Natural Hazards 2011The Protective Action Decision Model: Theoretical Modifications and Additional Evidence 2020Risk perceptions of COVID-19 around the world 2013Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling: An Integration of the Best Features of Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis

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2024The role of social media on COVID-19 preventive behaviors worldwide, systematic review 2024COVID-19 information seeking and individuals’ protective behaviors: examining the role of information sources and information content

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