Information Seeking Intentions Research Articles

Online Health Information Seeking by Individuals With Physical Disabilities Caused by Neurological Conditions in Saudi Arabia.

Background In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of the internet and information technology for accessing health information. This study aimed to determine the factors that affect patients with neurological disabilities and their willingness to search for information via the internet. In addition, we aimed to assess how patients manage this information, considering the increasing availability of online information and websites that discuss health and diseases, as well as the spread of communication technology and its accessibility to the public. Methodology A cross-sectional, online, self-administered, questionnaire study was conducted in Saudi Arabia. The study targeted patients with neurological diseases who had disabilities. The questionnaire was designed to measure the demographic data, physical disability using the 10-item physical function component of the 36-Item Short Form Health survey, the perceived usefulness of online health information, the perceived ease of use, and the perceived risk of online health information. Lastly, the questionnaire measured online health information-seeking intentions and information use. Data analysis was performed using RStudio (R version 4.1.1, Posit, Boston, USA). Results We received 1,179 responses, of which 399 were excluded due to using another way to get information rather than the internet, 31 did not have neurological disabilities, and 136 did not complete the questionnaire. The remaining 613 responses were included in the final analysis. The participants were mostly male (54.6%), not married (54.6%), and had a bachelor's degree (49.99%). The average age of participants was 18-25 years (24.5%) and 26-35 years (23.2%), Additionally, most participants resided in the western (26.9%) and eastern (25.9%) regions. Most participants (39.5%) had a monthly income of 5,000 to 10,000 SAR. Further, the most common neurological diseases were multiple sclerosis and epilepsy (26.9% and 23.2%, respectively). Based on the analysis of the data, the most important factor affecting online health information-seeking intention was that people with higher monthly incomes were more likely to seek online health information; these included people with an income of 10,000-20,000 SAR and >20,000 SAR. The most common factor affecting information use was the region of residence. The southern and western regions were less likely to adopt information use. Conclusions The monthly income and the area of residence had the greatest impact on people with neurological disabilities who sought online health information in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Educational campaigns and workshops should be arranged to increase the population's awareness of this topic, as well as to reveal the extent and prevalence of online health information seeking among disabled patients.

Assessing the role of interactivity: An evaluation of information aids to support the enrollment of precision medicine research programs

ObjectiveRecruiting diverse participants for precision medicine (PM) research programs should overcome low literacy and varied expectations. Information aids (IA) can address these barriers through patient-centered education. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of three information aids (IA) on participating in PM. MethodsAn experiment with 290 U.S. participants recruited from Mturk was conducted to compare the effects of three IAs on the outcomes related to participation. Three conditions included an interactive IA (i.e., providing PM-related information responding to each participant’s questions), a static IA (i.e., providing uniform PM-related information), and a control condition (i.e., providing non-interactive information irrelevant to PM). ResultsBoth interactive and non-interactive IAs increased attitudes and information-seeking intentions, but not knowledge or participation intention. Perceived control and responsiveness mediated the effects of interactive IA. ConclusionBoth interactive and static IAs supported enrollment efforts for PM through fostering attitudes and follow-up information-seeking. Increased perceived control and responsiveness are key to the effects of interactive IA. Practice implicationsIAs provide effective education and enrollment support for PM. Interactive IA can respond to individuals’ inquiries and control the learning process.

Exploring the effects of information insufficiency on residents’ intention to seek information about waste-to-energy incineration projects

Waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration provides an efficient and sustainable solution for disposing of municipal waste. However, the planning and construction of WTE incineration projects are prone to generating strong opposition from neighbors because of the potential environmental and health risks. From the standpoint of risk communication, this study explores the core determinants of information seeking intention regarding WTE incineration projects. The hypothesized model emphasizing the important role of information insufficiency is constructed based on the Risk Information Seeking and Processing model. The relationships between information seeking intention and core components are investigated using a survey of 1726 residents. The structural equation modeling results show that perceived current knowledge, perceived risk, negative emotion, perceived information gathering capacity, informational subjective norms, information insufficiency, and relevant channel beliefs are the primary predictors of intention to seek information. Additionally, the results indicate that information insufficiency has a mediating effect on the direction of intention to seek information. Relevant channel beliefs, in particular, affect information seeking intention indirectly through information insufficiency. Moreover, negative emotions such as ‘worry’ and ‘annoyance’ have different impacts on information insufficiency. ‘Worry’ positively influences information insufficiency, but ‘annoyance’ would be negatively related to information insufficiency. The theoretical implications are discussed, as well as practical guidance on risk communication.

Exploring factors influencing travel information-seeking intention on short video platforms

ABSTRACT Given the popularity of mobile-based short video apps in recent years, this study aims to examine factors influencing users’ intention to seek travel information on short video platforms. Informed by affordance theory and the technology acceptance model, this study proposes a research model that links various technological affordances to travel information-seeking intention on short video platforms. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in China with 640 respondents recruited from an online panel managed by a survey company to test the proposed model. Results show that four types of technological affordances (i.e. searching, recommendation, meta-voicing and livestreaming) on short video platforms are positively related to users’ diverse perceptions in seeking travel information. Perceived enjoyment promotes users’ perceived ease of use when using short video platforms and significantly enhances potential tourists’ travel information-seeking intention. Finally, perceived usefulness and ease of use also have a positive effect on travel information-seeking intention. This study provides theoretical and practical insights into increasing users’ intention to use short video platforms as travel information source, thereby making rational travel decisions.

Explaining information seeking intentions: Insights from a Slovenian social engineering awareness campaign

The human factor remains one of the key challenges in cybersecurity despite effective technical countermeasures in place. This study aims to determine what motivates individuals to seek information about social engineering by investigating the determinants of behavioral intention to follow the materials of a social engineering awareness campaign in Slovenia. A quantitative survey of individuals in Slovenia (N=542) aged 15 or older was administered with participants recruited through University of Maribor students. Data were collected on constructs related to the protection motivation theory (PMT) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as well as privacy concerns and perceived performance of authorities. The survey instrument was validated with a confirmatory factor analysis. Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) was used to determine relationships between constructs and analysis of differences between students and employed individuals. Results indicate perceived threat, subjective norm, attitude toward behavior and authorities performance are all significant predictors of behavioral intention. The associations between perceived threat and behavioral intention, and privacy concern and attitude towards behavior was not significant among employed individuals. Among students, trust in authorities was not a significant predictor of authorities performance. This study has several implications. The results of this study suggest that fear appeals may be effective in motivating individuals to seek information about social engineering attacks thus improving the effectiveness of awareness campaigns. They also offer some insights into how to improve messaging towards the target populations. Messaging emphasizing perceived threat may directly increase information seeking intention while messaging emphasizing coping with social engineering may do so indirectly through attitude towards behavior. This study also indicates that messaging should be tailored to the target population (e.g., messaging emphasizing perceived threat may be much less effective for employed individuals than students).

To know or not to know? Exploring COVID-19 information seeking with the risk information seeking and processing model

To cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce uncertainty, the public needs accurate and timely information. Inspired by the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model, this article discovers the significant predictors of individuals’ COVID-19 information-seeking intention and behaviour. Overall, 394 adult participants from 47 states completed this study’s online survey. The hierarchical regression analysis reveals that risk experience and informational subjective norms are the most substantial predictors of individuals’ online information-seeking behaviour about COVID-19. Information insufficiency did not predict information seeking, and participants tend to overestimate their knowledge about COVID-19. RISP variables tend to share power in explaining the variances of information-seeking behaviour. Moreover, both channel beliefs and perceived information gathering capacity moderate information insufficiency’s prediction of information-seeking intention. These findings will assist researchers in discovering the fundamental motivation of information seeking. This article can guide pragmatic interventions to reduce the public’s uncertainty and mitigate the risk.

PRISM and Emotions: Understanding the Role of Fear and Hope toward Vaccine Information Seeking Intentions

ABSTRACT Vaccines represent one of the greatest health efforts to help combat diseases, yet they often evoke emotional responses among individuals. These emotional responses can influence an individual’s desire to seek information about vaccines. The purpose of this research was to examine these relationships further using the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model (PRISM) and explore the role of emotions, specifically fear and hope, on vaccine-related information seeking intentions. Two separate models were tested using the PRISM model, one for fear and one for hope. Results suggest fear did not have a significant direct effect on vaccine information seeking, while hope had a positive and significant relationship. Interestingly, both attitude toward seeking and perceived current knowledge each had a positive relationship with information seeking intentions in the fear and hope models. Future research should continue to examine the role of specific emotions within the PRISM model to better predict information seeking intentions.

Consumers' food control risk attitude for blockchain traceable information seeking: Evidence from fresh fruit buyers in China

The blockchain-based traceability in agri-food marketing has brought a disruptive paradigm shift by removing the inherent information asymmetry problem. Likewise, revealing sufficient product quality and attributes information could break agricultural markets' “Lemon Market” dilemma. This study takes the fresh fruit with blockchain traceability QR label as a case and systematically investigates the influence of consumers' food control risk attitude on information-seeking intentions. We utilized online survey data of 1,058 fresh fruit buyers and simultaneously applied ordinary least square (OLS), ordered logit model (Ologit), and propensity score matching (PSM) approaches to overcome the potential self-selection biases and confounding factors. The results show that risk attitude significantly negatively impacts consumers' information seeking fresh fruits. The stronger consumers' risk preference, the lower the probability of information seeking. Furthermore, we used PSM to overcome potential sample selectivity bias; therefore, PSM reinforces the significance of OLS and Ologit results. The sub-sample estimation results show that young individuals with high school and below education have stronger blockchain information-seeking intentions. The study provides new insights into the role of food control risk attitude and agri-food information traceability and offers several measures for policy and practice to realize a border trajectory in agri-food information disclosure.

Radio public service announcements to promote vaccinations for older adults: Effects of framing and distraction

This article investigates the effects of message framing and distraction on older adults’ responses to a radio public service announcement (PSA) to promote influenza and pneumococci vaccinations. In detail, it addresses the message impact on recognition, attitudes toward the ad, and information-seeking intentions. The 2 × 2 online experiment was conducted in August 2019 in Germany. 378 participants aged 60 years and above received a radio PSA with either gain- or loss-framed messages (factor 1). Additionally, half of the participants completed a distraction task while listening (factor 2). Gain frames (η2p =.02) and a non-distracted reception situation (η2p =.04) positively influenced older adults’ recognition accuracy. Recognition, in turn, was found to mediate the effect of framing and distraction on the intention to seek further information on the campaign (framing: b = -0.03, distraction: b = 0.05). We conclude that gain-framed radio PSAs are an appropriate tool to raise awareness for a vaccination campaign and its contents, especially when recipients are concentrated while listening to it. We suggest to implement them at the early stages of a health intervention to sensitize people about vaccination, followed by more in-depth information material (e.g., brochures) to create behavior change.

360° Journalism as a Gateway to Information Seeking: The Role of Enjoyment and Spatial Presence

ABSTRACT This study examined the impact of news modality (print news vs. 360° journalism) on psychological mechanisms of information seeking intention, as well as individual differences that moderate the observed outcomes. The results of a two condition between-subjects experiment (N = 100) conducted on a community sample showed that news modality affected information seeking intentions, enjoyment of news story, and the feelings of spatial presence, but did not affect actual information seeking behavior and information recall. Exposure to 360° journalism led to the increase in spatial presence, which led to a linear increase in enjoyment, ultimately resulting in greater intentions to seek further information. Participants with a higher need for cognitive closure enjoyed consuming news more when the story was presented as 360° journalism than those with a lower need for cognitive closure. Results contribute to expanding the theories of information seeking and the role of affective responses and spatial presence on news consumption in journalism and communication scholarship.

Exploring differences in crisis literacy and efficacy on behavioral responses during infectious disease outbreaks

This study examined the effects of literacy and efficacy on individuals’ protective action taking and information seeking during the early phase of infectious disease outbreaks through a nationally representative survey of 1164 U.S. adults. New measures of disaster literacy and crisis efficacy were tested. Overall, results revealed that crisis efficacy and organizational efficacy drove protective action taking and information seeking intentions, while health literacy did not. Disaster literacy negatively predicted both protective action advice seeking and information seeking. The findings highlight the importance of strengthening public efficacy and improving relationships between health authorities and the public, which is greatly influenced by the public’s confidence in the health authority’s management of the crisis.

Disentangling the Role of Religiosity in Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic.

Religion is a complex and sociocultural driver of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination decisions, but its exact role has been mixed/unclear. We used a cross-sectional study of 342 Christian parents to examine the associations between the three domains of religiosity (organizational, non-organizational, and intrinsic) and the intention to (i) seek HPV information and (ii) receive the HPV vaccine. Organizational religiosity was the only domain that was positively associated with information-seeking intention regardless of the type of covariates included. Mixed findings in the association between religiosity and HPV vaccination decisions may depend on the religiosity domain being assessed.

Impact of information processing on individuals’ intentions toward reducing PM2.5: evidence from Hefei City, China

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is the main pollutant particle of smog pollution. Public PM2.5-reduction behavior is beneficial and important to the reduction of smog emissions. The article aims to investigate the influencing factors of the intention for individuals’ PM2.5-reduction. A conceptual model was proposed from the perspective of the protection behavior decision model and the heuristic-systematic information processing model. A random questionnaire survey was conducted in Hefei City, China. Results suggest that risk perception is a positive determinant of PM2.5-reduction intention, information insufficiency, and information-seeking intention. Information insufficiency positively determines systematic processing and information-seeking intention but fails to influence heuristic processing. Information-seeking intention is positively correlated with systematic processing and heuristic processing. Systematic processing positively determines PM2.5-reduction intention. However, the results suggest that heuristic processing has no significant effect on PM2.5-reduction intention. The findings of this study provide practical implications for enhancing individuals’ PM2.5-reduction intention.

Man vs. machine: Human responses to an AI newscaster and the role of social presence

ABSTRACT Technology advancements made the possibility of artificial intelligence (AI) newscasters a reality. Some news stations across the world have already employed AI to deliver the news, and more news stations may continue this trend. However, little is known about how the audience will respond to news when it is delivered by AI. Thus, the present study investigates people’s perceptions about an AI newscaster, compared to a human newscaster, in the context of delivering a weather newscast. Primary findings indicate that people perceive a human newscaster as more credible than an AI newscaster; however, information seeking intentions and behavioral intentions do not differ between the type of newscaster. Further, when listening to a weather newscast delivered by an AI newscaster, the perceived social presence of an AI newscaster is positively associated with greater levels of credibility, information seeking intentions, and behavioral intentions. Collectively, this exploratory research suggests the possibility that AI newscasters can be incorporated to the news broadcasting industry when human resources are limited.

How Do Narrative Structure and Format Influence a 360 Degree Video Ad?

A 2 (Ad Format: 360-degree video ad vs. standard video ad) × 2 (Narrative Structure: Narrative vs. Non-narrative) between subject experiment (N = 119) was conducted online to investigate the combinatory effects of ad format, narrative structure, and need for cognition on product intentions. Results showed the 360-degree video ad elicited lower information seeking intention, lower tryout intention, and lower purchase intention compared with a standard video ad. The flow experience mediated the relationship between the ad format and product intentions. In addition, narrative structure moderated the relationship between the ad format and the information seeking intention. Lastly, a three-way interaction among the ad format, narrative structure, and need for cognition on information seeking intention was detected. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Impact of Climate Change on Transportation Infrastructure: Comparing Perception Differences between the US Public and the Department of Transportation (DOT) Professionals

With over 1.1 billion trips made daily for work, education, or leisure, transportation systems are vital to the functioning of cities in the United States. However, these systems are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The current study investigated perception differences about climate change between transportation professionals (N = 22) and the general public (N = 2034). The study revealed that (i) transportation professionals find climate change important, worrisome and harmful to themselves and future generations; (ii) knowledge of climate change and its consequences on transportation systems is limited on average among the general public; (iii) the public holds higher levels of misperceptions about climate change; (iv) the general public is more willing to embrace the suggestions of family and friends than climate scientists regarding the issue; (v) the general public holds a higher perception of behavioral control and confidence in their ability to carry out mitigative actions; and (vi) the public has lower information-seeking intentions about climate change. Based on the study findings, areas where perceptions differ may be considered during policy formulation and implementation processes to encourage pro-environmental behavioral changes that will reduce anthropogenic carbon emissions and enhance the functionality of transportation infrastructure.

Visual Attention to the Source Matters: Using Eye Tracking to Understand the FDA's 'Every Try Counts' Campaign Message Effectiveness.

Visual attention is a crucial mechanism in health messaging and campaign persuasiveness. Little is known about how visual attention may translate into cessation-related outcomes in tobacco public education campaigns. Using the eye-tracking technology, this study investigated the relationships among visual attention, cognitive and affective message responses, and cessation-related outcomes (readiness to quit, intentions to quit, and intentions to seek cessation information). Four different posters from the Every Try Counts (ETC) campaign were used as message stimuli. A total of 80 adult current smokers participated. The associations between their behavioral eye gaze patterns and self-reported message responses and cessation-related outcomes were examined. Half of the sample (49.4%) were male, and 46.8% were White-with ages ranging from 18 to 36 years old (M = 21.22, SD = 2.86). Roughly 41% were daily smokers, and 78% had attempted quitting in the previous year. When exposed to campaign ads, only fixation on the FDA logo showed consistent positive relationships with cognitive and affective message responses. Mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects of fixation on the FDA logo on quitting and information-seeking intentions mainly through positive affective message responses. Visual attention to the FDA logo played an important role in the effects of ETC campaign messages. This study contributes new evidence on the relationship of visual attention, message responses, and ETC campaign outcomes. The current findings suggest that highlighting FDA as a campaign sponsor in the visual display may enhance the effectiveness of FDA tobacco education messages.

A Walk in the Park? Examining the Impact of App-Based Weather Warnings on Affective Reactions and the Search for Information in a Virtual City.

Background: Warning apps can provide personalized public warnings, but research on their appraisal and impact on compliance is scarce. This study introduces a virtual city framework to examine affective reactions when receiving an app-based warning, and subsequent behavioral intentions. Methods: In an online experiment, 276 participants (M = 41.07, SD = 16.44, 62.0% female) were randomly allocated to one of eight groups (warning vs. no warning, thunderstorm vs. no thunderstorm, video vs. vignette). Participants were guided through a virtual city by a mock-up touristic app (t1). Then, the app issued a warning about an impending thunderstorm (t2), followed by a virtual thunderstorm (t3). The virtual city tour was presented via vignettes or videos. ANCOVAs were used to investigate trajectories of momentary anxiety, hierarchical regressions analyzed the impact of momentary anxiety on information seeking. Results: Participants who received a warning message and were confronted with a thunderstorm showed the highest increase in momentary anxiety, which predicted information seeking intentions. Conclusions: The findings underscore the importance of affective appraisal in processing warning messages. The virtual city framework is able to differentiate the impact of warning versus event in an online context, and thus promising for future warning research in virtual settings.

Get Vaccinated for Loved Ones: Effects of Self-Other Appeal and Message Framing in Promoting HPV Vaccination among Heterosexual Young Men

ABSTRACT HPV has long been constructed as a sex-specific virus. Boys and men largely perceive the virus as not related to themselves and thus develop a female-specific schema on HPV. The present study investigates message strategies for promoting HPV vaccination among heterosexual young men in the United States. Through an online experiment, this study examined the effects of reference point (self, other, vs. self-other) and message framing (gain vs. loss) on processing fluency, optimistic bias, and behavioral intentions. The findings showed a schema-matching pattern in facilitating information processing, and a schema-mismatching pattern in attenuating optimistic bias. Specifically, other-referencing messages that related the outcomes of getting vaccinated for HPV to the message recipients’ sexual partners promoted processing fluency and widened the self-other gap in perceived susceptibility to HPV, regardless of the message frame. By contrast, self-other-referencing messages that highlighted the outcomes regarding themselves and their sex partners enhanced processing fluency and mitigated optimistic bias. Moreover, the attenuation in optimistic bias increased the participants’ information seeking intentions and the likelihood that they would share the messages on social media. The implications for health message design are discussed from a schema-based, message-tailoring perspective.

When Media Health Stories Conflict: Test of the Contradictory Health Information Processing (CHIP) Model

Guided by Uncertainty Management Theory, UMT, we tested a model that explicates how uncertainty arising from contradictory health information is managed through information seeking. In an online experiment, 763 U.S. adults were randomly assigned to one of three message conditions: contradictory, non-contradictory, or control. Participants in the contradictory and non-contradictory conditions answered questions about their perceptions of contradiction, issue and decision uncertainty, negative appraisals and emotions, and information-seeking intentions. They also completed measures of several moderator variables, including information overload, intolerance for uncertainty, and health self-efficacy. Baseline levels of issue and decision uncertainty were measured in the control condition. Model tenets were confirmed: perceptions of contradiction led to issue uncertainty which, in turn, prompted cognitive appraisals directly, and indirectly through increased decision uncertainty. The effects of issue and decision uncertainty on information-seeking intentions were mediated by negative appraisals and threat emotions. Individuals with high health self-efficacy and positive outcome expectations of information search were more likely to manage uncertainty through information seeking. These results support the use of the CHIP model when perceptions of contradiction and decision uncertainty need to be accounted for, while also validating UMT for its original purposes. Model refinements and implications are discussed.