“I’m Just Going to Stay Out of the Way”: How Perceived Information Gathering Capacity Influenced Risk Information Seeking and Processing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

When a new risk emerges, people must seek out and process information to help them understand how to manage the risk in their daily lives. The risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model has been used to explain what factors both contribute to risk information seeking and processing behaviors. The present study uses focus groups and deductive thematic analysis to examine how a novel risk context, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, may influence RISP relationships. Findings reveal important limitations of current understandings of RISP, particularly concerning perceived information gathering capacity. This study prompts future research to reexamine how perceived information gathering capacity may significantly impact antecedents and outcomes of systematic, non-routine information seeking and processing during an emerging risk.