Information-related Behaviour Research Articles

Unraveling the impact of infodemic stress on information and health behaviors: a double effect perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the underlying mechanism whereby information-induced stress, resulting from the burdensome nature, questionable information reliability, misleading content and diffuse characteristics of infodemic pressure, impacts individuals’ online information-related behavior and health-related preventive behavior.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a cross-sectional survey organized with social media users during the post-pandemic period. Based on the 342 valid responses, structural equation modeling was employed to validate the research model.FindingsThe results substantiate our multidimensional view of infodemic stress, which encompasses dimensions including information overload, uncertainty, diffusivity and insecurity. We found that the infodemic stress contributes to pandemic fatigue, then engenders both negative information behavior and reduced engagement in preventive behavior. Furthermore, infodemic stress has also been found to have a direct positive effect on individuals’ engagement in preventive behavior.Originality/valueThis study introduces the concept of “infodemic stress” and presents a comprehensive framework to capture its various dimensions. This study offers novel insights into the psychological and behavioral repercussions of the infodemic stress transmitted through social media.

The single-serve wine option in South African restaurants: product involvement, risk perception and information-related behavioural effects

ABSTRACT Wine is a highly-valued-added end product of an important agricultural value chain. In this product category, the single-serve wine by-the-glass (WBG) option in restaurants presents a largely underutilized business opportunity. Academic research examining consumer behavioural psychology-based constructs in the situational consumption context of restaurants, has also not kept pace with this market reality. Hence, this study establishes how product involvement, risk perception, and information processing, affect consumption of WBG by consumers in the situational milieu of restaurants. Following scale validation by conducting confirmatory factor analysis and thereafter fitting a structural equation model, the relationships between constructs are examined by utilising a sample of 1,038 South African consumers representative of dining across all restaurant categories. The findings contribute to the literature by showing that distinct motivational relationships exist between the involvement and perception of risk constructs and information-related behaviour of consumers engaging with the WBG option in restaurants. The stable nature of consumers' enduring involvement with wine products evokes motivational processing by triggering situational involvement upon purchasing WBG and perception of risk arousal of both the cognitively-evaluated (psychological, social and functional) and non-cognitively-evaluated (financial, physical and time) risk types.

Fighting rumors to fight COVID-19: Investigating rumor belief and sharing on social media during the pandemic

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, a significant health threat, influenced information-related behaviors and induced increased rumor-sharing behaviors on social media. Fighting COVID-19 thus entails the need to fight the rumors as well, providing a strong motivation to explore rumor-related behavior during this extraordinary period. From the perspective of information acquisition, we predicted that information acquisition from social and traditional media would interactively influence rumor-related decisions (i.e., rumor belief and sharing) and that critical thinking would shape this relationship. Through a survey of 2424 individuals who used social media during the pandemic, we found that information acquisition from social media was negatively related to rumor sharing and that rumor belief mediated this relationship. Meanwhile, information acquisition from traditional media weakened the negative effect of information acquisition from social media on rumor belief, and critical thinking alleviated the positive effect of rumor belief on rumor sharing. This study contributes to the literature by explaining the diffusion of COVID-19 rumors on social media from an information perspective and revealing how different information sources and thinking styles come into conflict in rumor decisions.

Students’ online information use and learning progress in higher education – A critical literature review

ABSTRACT Learning using the Internet has become a vital factor for academic success in higher education. Students increasingly rely on the Internet as their main information source. However, related research is still an emerging and highly fragmented field. Therefore, this study aims to provide a comprehensive and integrative review of research literature on student learning vis-à-vis using the Internet. The review encompasses research on students' strategies for searching, evaluating, and selecting online information, the use of this information for domain-specific learning, and the influence of the characteristics of both online information sources and learners on searching, evaluating, and selecting online information. Moreover, research on how this information-related behavior develops and affects learning outcomes is considered. The literature research, conducted in 2020, employed the database Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) and the search engine Google Scholar. Based on relevant search phrases and keywords, over 500 publications were found. After a second search, 55 fitting publications from 2009 onwards were identified. The review reveals a lack of research on the characteristics of online information, how these characteristics affect student learning in higher education, and how student learning can be fostered by improving students' information-related strategies. Research integrating these different perspectives is even scarcer.

Health information-seeking styles and health information literacy in relation to anticipated health-promoting behaviour - results from an online diabetes risk test survey

The paper presents results from a survey of users of an online diabetes risk test. We studied relationships between information-seeking styles and everyday health information literacy, as well as anticipated behaviours in case of risk for type 2 diabetes for 184 respondents who had taken the risk test prior to responding to the survey. We assessed active, moderate and passive health information-seeking styles, as well as low, basic and high everyday health information literacy and tested them against health-promoting information-related activities and health behaviour. Significant relationships occurred between information-seeking styles and four activities: 'check further information', 'make an appointment', 'increase the amount of physical activities' and 'do nothing'. Education level was significantly related to two health-promoting behaviours, whereas level of everyday health information literacy was related to only one. Despite limitations, the results of this exploratory study open up for further research about the role of information-seeking styles and health-promoting behaviour.

Stock market information flow: Explanations from market status and information-related behavior

Information flow between stocks are universal facts in worldwide stock markets and well documented in numerous studies. To understand the formation of information flow in stock market, we built an order driven artificial stock market where heterogeneous agents construct portfolio by maximizing expected utility and based on information they acquired. Simulations are performed under different market status and information-related trading behaviors of investors with limited information process capacity. Results showed that market noise or information quality alone could not determine the amount of information flow in stock market, that information process capacity and learning behavior of traders play vital intermediate roles. In addition, information flow is stabilized in the presence of a certain proportion of insider trading.

Restaurants and wine by-the-glass consumption: Motivational process model of risk perception, involvement and information-related behaviour

This study examines how wine by-the-glass (WBG) consumption by diners in USA restaurants is affected by their risk perception, product involvement, information seeking and dissemination-related behaviours and, how these constructs interact in this situation. We model their motivational process by developing a structural equation model (SEM) to examine these effects using a sample of 532 diners representing all restaurant categories in the USA. In the process we develop and validate a 17-item scale to measure the risk perception specific to WBG consumption. This empirical study supports all hypotheses tested in the motivational process model, which explicates the processes by which consumer WBG risk perception and product involvement are caused and influence one another, as well as the subsequent information processing behaviour-related responses of restaurant diners.

An inconvenient source? Attributes of science documentaries and their effects on information-related behavioral intentions

We investigate the impact of a science documentary on individuals' intention to engage in information-related behaviors by experimentally testing the effects of source type (scientist, politician, or anonymous source) and communication setting (interview or lecture) using a manipulated clip from the documentary, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. Our results indicate that, compared to anonymous sources, use of authoritative ones result in greater intention to engage in some information-related behaviors. Additionally, our results suggest that increased intentions to engage in exchanging information can be attributed to negative affect induced by the clip featuring a politician. Implications for documentary films and science communication are discussed.

Situating information literacy in the disciplines

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to consider the current barriers to situating in the disciplines and to offer a possible strategy for so doing. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews current challenges facing librarians who seek to situate information literacy in the disciplines and offers and practical model for those wishing to do so. Phenomenographic evidence from disciplinary faculty focus groups is presented in the context of the model put forward. Findings – Disciplinary faculty do not have generic conceptions of information literacy but rather understand information-related behaviors as part of embodied disciplinary practice. Practical implications – Librarians dissatisfied with traditional forms of generic information literacy instruction marketing will find a method by which to place ownership on information literacy in the hands of disciplinary faculty. Originality/value – The article offers a unique analysis of the challenges facing current information literacy specialists and a new approach for integrating information literacy in the disciplines.

Information for Inspiration: Understanding Information-Seeking Behaviour and Library Usage of Students at the Hong Kong Design Institute

The process of information- and inspiration-seeking behaviour amongst artists and designers often involve direct observation, note-taking, collecting materials and image samples, recognising styles, analysing movements, patterns, textures, as well as experimenting with different materials and techniques. They also rely heavily on having access to a variety of visual resources, both physical and digital, during the process of inspiration-seeking. However, there have been few studies on how art and design students look for and use information in the digital age, especially in the context of the library. This paper reports on an empirical study of the inspiration-seeking process and other information-related behaviour of students at the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI). An online questionnaire was created to ask the HKDI students specific questions: the types of library preferred; students' comfort level with the HKDI Library; student respondents' information needs; and their preferred sources for inspiration. They were also asked which media and venues they looked to for information that was important to their creative process. A total of 327 current students at the HKDI completed the survey. The research findings suggest that information-seeking behaviour of the art and design students was reflective of the fluid and creative nature of the art and design domain. They were regular users of traditional printed resources as well as the physical libraries. They also placed heavy reliance on the Internet and a variety of social networks when it came to inspiration-seeking. Inspiration was found from a very diverse and ‘idiosyncratic’ set of sources; often via accidental discovery. The students' status as emergent practitioners also suggested a strong need for career advice and interactions with peers practicing in the art and design field.

A Comprehensive Theoretical Framework for Personal Information-Related Behaviors on the Internet

Although there is near consensus on the need for privacy, the reality is that people's attitude toward their personal information privacy is complex. For instance, even when people claim that they value their information privacy, they often trade their personal information for tangible or intangible benefits. In this article, the research on different ways in which people respond to risks to privacy is examined. They include information seeking to reduce uncertainty, the withholding of information, and the provision of fabricated information. The impact of trust and inducements on Internet users’ willingness to share personal information is also examined. Thereafter, important postulates from theories in communication, social psychology, and sociology are synthesized into a comprehensive theoretical framework for personal information-related behaviors in the online environment.

부산지역 노령인구의 정보소외 양상과 노년층을 위한 공공 정보서비스 활성화 방안 연구

이 연구는 부산지역에 거주하는 노년층의 일상적 정보세계를 그리고자 한 조사연구이다. 자료는 연구대상의 생애사에 대한 기초적인 설문조사와 면담 및 사례 관찰을 통하여 수집하고 분석하였다. 구체적으로 이 연구에서는 부산지역 노년층의 일상속에서 정보와 관련된 기본적인 양상과 노년계층의 정보화를 저해하는 요인을 파악하여 분석하고 이를 정보화정책에 연계할 수 있는 모티브를 찾고자 하였다. 궁극적으로 이를 통하여 지역의 유관 기관을 중심으로 하는 공공 정보서비스의 확대방안을 모색하고자 하였다. 이를 위하여 이 연구에서는 (1) 일상적 관심사의 유형과 대처 방식, (2) 정보화의 계기와 현재 정보화수준, (3)일상의 영위를 위해 필요로 하는 정보를 얻기 위하여 그들이 이용하는 매체의 유형과 특성 등의 범주를 다루었다. This study intends to portray the everyday lives of senior citizens in Busan metro area in terms of the information use and behaviors. Employing basic qualitative data collection tools such as interviews and participant observation, the study attempts to illustrate information needs and behaviors of the aged population in their everyday lives. This paper specifically focuses on the following characteristics of information need and information-related behavior of the aged: types of everyday concerns and ways to cope with such concerns: information literacy levels and motives to get information literacy education: and characteristics of information channels of everyday information seeking and information gathering. The role that interpersonal sources play in their everyday lives has been emphasized. Some suggestions to enhance the levels of information literacy of the aged were added as conclusions.

A theoretical exploration of information behaviour: a power perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to explore and propose a way of using power as a theoretical anchor to investigate the information behaviour of people in work roles.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews literature on power relevant to the information disciplines. Various models of power are described, and a more sophisticated view, which takes a relational approach to power, is used to suggest how information related behaviour could be investigated.FindingsIn this paper, power is regarded as a pervasive phenomenon involved in all aspects of individual lives, including the aspects emanating from work roles performed by individuals, thus manifesting itself as part of the relationships in the organisation. The paper suggests a framework that links information behaviour to power by arguing that power relations that form part of the processes of the work roles induce the information behaviour exhibited by those people. The paper concludes by pointing to a need for information behaviour researchers to consider power as central to understanding how people seek and use information.Originality/valueThe framework could be used as a tool for designing studies that will enable the collection of data on information behaviour.

Barriers to evidence‐based practice in primary care nursing – why viewing decision‐making as context is helpful

This paper reports a study examining the barriers associated with research knowledge transfer amongst primary care nurses in the context of clinical decision-making. The research literature on barriers to nurses' use of research knowledge is characterized by studies that rely primarily on self-report data, making them prone to reporting biases. Studies of the barriers to evidence-based practice often fail to examine information use and behaviour in the context of clinical decision-making. A multi-site, mixed method, case study was carried out in 2001. Data were collected in three primary care organizations by means of interviews with 82 primary care nurses, 270 hours of non-participant observation and 122 Q-sorts. Nurses were selected using a published theoretical sampling frame. Between-methods triangulation was employed and data analysed according to the principles of constant comparison. Multiple linear regression was used to explore relationships between a number of independent demographic variables (such as length of clinical experience) and the dependent variable of nurses' perspectives on the barriers to their use of research knowledge. Three perspectives on barriers to research information use emerged: the need to bridge the skills and knowledge gap for successful knowledge transfer; information formats need to maximize limited opportunities for consumption; and limited access in the context of limited time for decision-making and information consumption. Demographic variables largely failed to predict allegiance to any of the perspectives identified. Researchers should consider using decision-making as a contextual backdrop for exploring information use and behaviour, avoid relying solely on self-reported behaviour as data, and use a variety of research methods to provide a richer picture of information-related behaviour. Practice developers need to recognize that understanding the decisions to which research knowledge is to be applied should be a characteristic of any strategy to increase research uptake by nurses.

Collaborative information behaviour––exploring Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process model in a group-based educational setting

Though much information behaviour takes place in collaborative settings, information behaviour processes are commonly perceived and modelled by information scientists as individual processes. The paper presents and discusses the findings from a qualitative preliminary case study exploring Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (ISP) model in a group-based educational setting. The aim of the study was to explore if members of a group behave differently from the individual modelled in the ISP model and further, if members of a group demonstrate different behaviours or they will assimilate and turn the group into ‘an individual’, just in another sense. During a project assignment, which lasted seven weeks, two groups of information science students filled out a questionnaire and kept diaries of their activities and information-related behaviour. Further, the students were interviewed three times each during the study. It was found that contextual and social factors seem to affect group members’ physical activities and their cognitive and emotional experiences during a project assignment with relevance to information behaviour. Though group members to some extent demonstrated similar cognitive experiences as the individual in the ISP model, these experiences did not only result from information seeking activities but also from work task activities and intragroup interactions. Regarding group members’ emotional experiences, no emotional ‘turning point’ resulting in certainty and relief by the end of the information seeking process was identified. Further, some of the group members still felt uncertain, frustrated and disappointed at the end of the project assignment, which partly was associated with a mis-match in motivations, ambitions and project focus among group members. Regarding the intragroup behaviour, group members did not demonstrate similar behaviours, meaning that ‘groups’ cannot be perceived or modelled as ‘an individual’, just in another sense. Groups consist of individuals engaged in and affected by a collaborative problem solving process involving information (seeking) behaviour. A natural extension of the ISP model in relation to group processes is suggested, addressing also the impact of social and contextual factors on the individual’s information behaviour.

Information needs and information seeking in primary care: a study of nurse practitioners.

The objective was to understand the information-related behavior of nurse practitioners (NPs), a population of clinicians responsible for an increasing proportion of primary care. Two phases of data collection addressed seven research questions. The initial phase of data collection was a questionnaire sent to 300 NPs, who were asked to report their experiences of needing information as a result of patient encounters as well as their experiences of seeking information. The second phase of data collection entailed a series of interviews with twenty NPs following their encounters with patients to collect data on instances of information needs and information seeking. NPs most frequently needed information related to drug therapy and diagnosis. NPs with a master's degree were found to perceive information needs more frequently than their colleagues who had not received a master's degree. The information resources NPs used most frequently were consultations with colleagues, drug reference manuals, and textbooks and protocol manuals. NPs were more likely to pursue needs related to drug therapy with a print resource and needs related to diagnosis with a colleague. The generalizability of a need emerged as a negative predictor of information seeking. This study has addressed a number of questions about the information-related behavior of NPs in primary care practices and led to the development of a temporal model of information seeking in these settings. Results of this research underscore the importance of access to information resources in primary care practices. This study's findings also support the development of educational and outreach programs to promote evidence-based decision making among primary care clinicians.

Information Behaviors in an Online Smoking Cessation Forum

Smoking is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality today, and a focus of attention by primary care practitioners and public health. Few studies take into account the role of community-based information transactions, nor have they examined the information needs of quitting smokers beyond generic patient education pamphlets. A pilot study examines the function and value of information communicated in an online forum dedicated to smoking cessation. Firstly, a Web-based survey was sent to fourteen forum participants known by the author. Twenty questions about medications, decision support sources, the evaluation of those sources, and basic demographic information were asked and the resulting responses were analyzed. Secondly, 371 selected posts from the Web forum were collected to better understand the importance and frequency of specific types of cessation-related information. Several models are discussed in a preliminary attempt to characterize the forum's community-based information behaviors. Survey respondents view the existence of online community-based information resources (in the persons of their community peers) as a major factor in their cessation efforts. Although no attempt was made to generalize findings beyond this initial pilot, gaps were tentatively identified between the support provided by more traditional healthcare practitioners and the information needs experienced by this population. In their provision of a milieu for the exchange of information, online fora may enable support at a depth and quantity unavailable through more immediate channels. Further studies are needed to develop a better understanding of information-related behaviors of this large population.

Desktop information systems and services: a user survey in a pharmaceutical research organisation

A survey of scientist users of information systems and services in a pharmaceutical research organisation was conducted, primarily by semi-structured interview, with the primary aim of assessing, and where possible quantifying, the changes in information-related behaviour resulting from the provision of desktop information systems. Difficulties were encountered due to the great difference in the nature of work which has occurred simultaneous with, and to a degree due to, improvements in the information environment, where information tools are now central to scientific work. The results cast light on the changing nature of information handling in the new environment, and on specific issues of the `information gatekeeper', information overload, and information literacy. A cluster analysis of the results showed three distinct groups of users, `perfectionists', `pragmatists’ and `positivists', the grouping likely to result from personality factors.

Information in primary health care.

The results of two recently completed studies, one in the Trent Region and the other in the Anglia and Oxford Region, of the information-related behaviour of general medical practitioners (GPs) and of information activities within the general practices illustrating the information seeking behaviour of GPs, their generation of information, and communication within, to and from the practice. GPs stated that there is a need for more information to enable practices to function within the changing NHS environment. The increasing emphasis on evidence-based medicine also creates the need for appropriate information sources. The Trent study resulted in guidelines for best information practice, especially the need for each practice to have an information strategy. The Anglia and Oxford Study examined the role which the library and information services could play in supporting primary health care.

Agricultural advisers and independent consultants in England and Wales—The end of symbiosis?

Recent initiatives in government policy, in particular that of charging for advice formerly offered free by the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service, is changing the role of the state adviser vis-à-vis the private consultant. The similarities in personal attributes, information-related behaviour and clientele between advisers and consultants is examined, and the effects of government policy on their future roles is discussed. What was once described as a symbiotic relationship is becoming increasingly competitive and possible avenues for further research to examine this are suggested.