Political ideology and differences in seeking COVID-19 information on the internet: examining the comprehensive model of information seeking

Xianlin Jin

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Communication and COVID-19 Impact Misinformation and Its Impacts Health Literacy and Information Accessibility

Abstract

Purpose Guided by the Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking (CMIS), this article identifies significant predictors that impact individuals seeking COVID-19 information. People with different political ideologies read contradictory information about the COVID-19 pandemic. However, how political ideology may affect COVID-19 information seeking remains unclear. This study explores the major information channels for individuals with different political ideologies to seek COVID-19 information. It further examines how political ideologies influence CMIS's effectiveness in predicting online health information-seeking. Design/methodology/approach This study collected 394 completed survey responses from adults living in the United States after the 2020 lockdown. ANOVA analyses revealed the differences in salience, beliefs, information carrier characteristics, utilities and information-seeking actions between Liberals and Conservatives. Regression analyses discovered variables that predict Liberals' and Conservatives' online health information seeking. Findings Results suggest that the internet is the top channel for COVID-19 information seeking. Compared to Conservatives, Liberals report more COVID-19 information-seeking actions. Liberals also express stronger salience, perceive higher trustworthiness of online COVID-19 information, are more likely to think of seeking online COVID-19 information as useful and helpful and report more substantial efficacy to mitigate the risk. Most CMIS variables predict Liberals' information seeking; however, only salience significantly predicts Conservatives' information seeking. Originality/value This article indicates that CMIS should include political ideology to refine its prediction of information seeking. These findings offer practical implications for designing health messages, enhancing information distribution and reducing the public's uncertainty. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-08-2022-0436 .

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1974The Health Belief Model and Preventive Health Behavior 2020Use Omega Rather than Cronbach’s Alpha for Estimating Reliability. But…1966Why People Use Health Services 1995Exercise of personal and collective efficacy in changing societies 2020Political Ideology Predicts Perceptions of the Threat of COVID-19 (and Susceptibility to Fake News About It)1992The Social Amplification of Risk: Theoretical Foundations and Empirical Applications 1993A Comprehensive Model of Cancer-Related Information Seeking Applied to Magazines 2021Political polarization on COVID-19 pandemic response in the United States

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