Media variants, situation awareness, and protective public-health behaviors

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of exposure to traditional and social media on protective behaviors during a public health emergency, mediated by situation awareness composed of perceived knowledge and perceived threat. Under the context of the worldwide spread of Ebola in 2014, a survey conducted in Hong Kong showed that, compared to exposure to social media regarding the emergency, exposure to traditional media produced a higher level of situation awareness, which further affected protective behaviors in a public health emergency. In addition, the effect of traditional media exposure on protective behaviors was significantly mediated by both perceived knowledge and perceived threat. However, the effect of social media exposure on protective behavior was only significantly mediated by perceived knowledge, but not by perceived threat.