Role of Infodemics on Social Media in the Development of People’s Readiness to Follow COVID-19 Preventive Measures

Bireswar Dutta,Chien-Chih Chen,Shu-Lung Sun,Mei-Hui Peng

doi:10.3390/ijerph19031347

Abstract

Unparalleled levels of misinformation have contributed to widespread misunderstandings about the nature of the coronavirus, its cure and preventative measures. Misinformation crosses borders rapidly with the help of social media, and this phenomenon is constantly increasing. Thus, the current study proposes a research framework to explore how citizens’ trust in government and social media influences their readiness to follow COVID-19 preventive measures. Additionally, the role of a health infodemic was explored in perceptions and relationships among factors influencing an individual’s readiness to follow COVID-19 preventive measures with data collected from 396 participants in Taiwan. The findings indicate citizens’ trust in social media (TRSM), attitude (ATT), perceived benefit (PBT), personal innovativeness, and how peer referents positively influence their readiness. However, the relationship between citizens’ trust in the government (TRGT) and their readiness to follow COVID-19 preventive measures (INT) is not statistically significant. The current study also explores the negative moderating effect of health infodemics on the relationship between TRSM and INT, TRGT and INT, ATT and INT, PBT and INT. Thus, the Taiwanese government must consider the current study’s findings to develop attractively, informed, and evidence-based content, which helps its citizens improve their health literacy and counter the spread of misinformation.

Highlights

The current study develops an integrated research model to investigate how citizens’
Due to the sudden implementation of strict lockdown, citizens were not psychologically and physically prepared to cope with the new regulations
Citizens could display distrust and reserve critical determination towards services and the information provided by the government

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Coronavirus (COVID-19) was initially found in December 2019 at a wholesale seafood market in Wuhan, China [1]. Following the onset of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in China, the COVID-19 pandemic is considered the third of its kind, which threatens human civilization globally [2]. The severe spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) has posed sensational threats to public safety, the economy, and education globally. Educational institutions, and public spaces have been entirely shut down [3]

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