Planned Risk Information Research Articles

AI at everyone’s fingertips? Identifying the predictors of health information seeking intentions using AI

ABSTRACT The advent of AI tools has the potential to transform how health information is sought, which increases the need for insights into why individuals turn to AI. The study, guided by channel-specific predictors covered by the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model, additionally considers trust and risk perceptions toward AI, and examines the predictors of one’s AI-seeking intention. The results of an online survey (N = 1,121) indicated that attitudes toward seeking, seeking-related norms, and perceived seeking control were significant predictors of individuals’ intention to seek health information from AI. In contrast, trust and risk perceptions were of minor relevance.

Coral Safe or Skin Safe?: Risk Information Behaviors and Green Purchase Decisions

Coral bleaching threatens coral safety and the marine environment. Coral-safe sunscreens are encouraged as a green product to protect coral reefs by many U.S. states and other nations. This study cited key variables from the planned risk information seeking and processing (PRISM) model to explore the connection between risk information behaviors and pro-environmental purchase decisions. We surveyed a sample of 409 U.S. respondents, and employed structural equation modeling for analysis. Results showed that both information seeking and processing were precursors to consumers’ product information seeking during purchasing, thereby impacting the purchase intent of coral-safe sunscreens. Systematic processing is also directly related to the purchase intent. Implications are further discussed.

What Drives or Inhibits Individuals’ Intention to Seek Information About Medical Innovations? Findings From an Online Survey Among German Residents

Innovation research fighting for public attention and counteracting science-skeptical views raise the need for insights into why individuals are motivated to engage with scientific knowledge. Guided by the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model (PRISM), additionally considering mistrust in science and innovativeness, the study aimed to explain individuals’ intention to seek information about medical innovations. Findings of an online survey among German residents ( N = 5,322) supported the utility of the extended PRISM to predict seeking intent. Most of the postulates of the PRISM were supported; mistrust served as a barrier to engagement with scientific knowledge, whereas innovativeness was of minor relevance.

The media-psychological model of environmental risk perception

The article presents the results of a theoretical analysis on the topic of media-psychological aspects of the perception of environmental risks and the presentation of the author's media psychological model of the impact of media messages on the perception of environmental risks. The presented model examines the processes and stages involved in the initial encounter with environmental risk messages in the media and the further outcomes of their processing which can manifest in information-seeking behaviour. According to the presented model, changes in risk perception are considered a series of stages initiated by attention to information and can continue when information-seeking behaviour is triggered. The main models relied on by the author of this study are the Limited Capacity Model of Motivated Mediated Message Processing to describe media message processing and the Risk Information Search and Processing Model to describe aspects of information-seeking behaviour. Several additional communication models dedicated to the consideration of information behaviour and processing of media messages were also used to describe the processes of mass media influence on the perception of environmental risks. Thus, dual models of information processing and persuasive communication are also considered, including the Heuristic-Systematic Model and the Elaboration Likelihood Model, as well as additional theories examining information-seeking behaviour: the Theory of Motivated Information Management and the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model

Predicting the public’s seeking intention of COVID-19 risk information through the comparison of PRISM and expanded PRISM

The applicability of the main theories of risk information seeking to novel risk scenarios is not well understood. According to Hovick, Kahlor, and Liang (Journal of Health Communication 19:511-527, 2014), this study retested the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model (PRISM) and examined the impact of additional variables on the model in order to investigate the critical factors (expanded PRISM) that affect people’s intention to seek information about COVID-19 risks and determine whether the PRISM model is more appropriate in this context than expanded PRISM based on survey data from 1031 Chinese adults. The results showed that PRISM fit the data better. Furthermore, future study should focus on two new variables: source beliefs and past information seeking. Theoretical and practical implications are considered.

Disentangling the Effects of Cognitive, Affective, and Sociocultural Factors on Risk Information Avoidance: A Meta-Analysis

Risk information avoidance (RIA) has become an increasingly ubiquitous behavior for people to deal with massive volumes of information. Given its detrimental impact, abundant studies were conducted to explore its antecedents. Nevertheless, the results are scattered and, in some cases, inconsistent. We thereby conducted a meta-analysis to present a synthesis of the current findings by identifying the most relevant antecedents and moderators. Guided by the framework of Planned Risk Information Avoidance, we examined 11 antecedents along cognitive, emotional, and sociocultural dimensions. Based on 52 articles across various contexts, the results indicated that information overload ( r = .30), efficacy belief ( r = −.11), fatalism ( r = .18), information insufficiency ( r = −.09), anxiety ( r = .26), worry ( r = −.08) and information avoiding norms ( r = .50) were significant predictors of RIA. Furthermore, uncertainty avoidance and information type were identified as moderators.

Generation Z's Health Information Avoidance Behavior: Insights From Focus Group Discussions.

Younger generations actively use social media to access health information. However, research shows that they also avoid obtaining health information online at times when confronted with uncertainty. This study aims to examine the phenomenon of health information avoidance among Generation Z, a representative cohort of active web users in this era. Drawing on the planned risk information avoidance model, we adopted a qualitative approach to explore the factors related to information avoidance within the context of health and risk communication. The researchers recruited 38 participants aged 16 to 25 years for the focus group discussion sessions. In this study, we sought to perform a deductive qualitative analysis of the focus group interview content with open, focused, and theoretical coding. Our findings support several key components of the planned risk information avoidance model while highlighting the underlying influence of cognition on emotions. Specifically, socioculturally, group identity and social norms among peers lead some to avoid health information. Cognitively, mixed levels of risk perception, conflicting values, information overload, and low credibility of information sources elicited their information avoidance behaviors. Affectively, negative emotions such as anxiety, frustration, and the desire to stay positive contributed to avoidance. This study has implications for understanding young users' information avoidance behaviors in both academia and practice.

Seeking information about waste-to-energy incineration projects: The role of objective knowledge and benefit perceptions in an extended PRISM.

Although waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration projects have boosted the economic effectiveness of the waste management system, locals frequently view them with suspicion, opposition, or even outright rejection because of potential environmental and health risks. In this study, by incorporating two additional variables, namely, objective knowledge and benefit perceptions, the planned risk information seeking model (PRISM) was extended in the context of the WtE incineration project. A total of 1726 respondents were interviewed in person. Results from the structural equation modeling indicated that the extended PRISM achieved excellent fits, suggesting the generalizability of the model in these contexts. Objective knowledge and subjective knowledge have a positive and direct impact on perceived knowledge insufficiency. The impact of benefit and risk perceptions on worry is the opposite, with risk perceptions having a greater direct effect on worry. However, compared with risk perceptions, the direct effect that benefit perceptions have on perceived knowledge insufficiency is stronger. Additionally, perceived knowledge insufficiency partially or completely mediates the relationships between all antecedents, except perceived seeking control, and information-seeking intention. This study suggests that risk managers carefully consider how to establish powerful communication tactics to shape these antecedents when introducing a "not in my backyard" project to the local community.

The Planned Risk Information Seeking Model Applied to Vaccine Information Avoidance and the Role of Affect, Emotion and Perceived Benefits

ABSTRACT Using a stratified sample of German residents (N = 1,508), we examined intentions to avoid information about vaccination against COVID-19. The study was guided by the planned risk information seeking model (PRISM), also taking into consideration benefit perceptions, positive affective responses, and discrete emotions. Our findings generally supported the utility of the extended PRISM to predict information avoidance intentions; most of the hypothesized relationships were supported and the model accounted for 58.8% of the variance in intentions to avoid information about COVID-19 vaccination. Furthermore, perceived benefits of vaccination, and positive affect felt toward vaccination played significant roles in explaining intentions to avoid information about vaccination. A more nuanced view on affective predictors showed that hope and interest were weakly associated with less pronounced avoidance intent, whereas we found no link between avoidance intent and fear, anxiety, and anger.

Influencing air force logisticians' information seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of organizational meetings in an expanded PRISM framework

PurposeThis research aims to understand how organizational workplace meetings surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic impacted logistics Airmen across the United States Air Force and how these meetings impacted their risk seeking behavior on social media.Design/methodology/approachThis survey research tested an extended Planned Risk Information Risk Seeking Model (PRISM) with organizational meetings as an antecedent to determine if current meetings influenced an Airman's perceived behavioral control, attitude toward seeking, subjective norms, knowledge sufficiency and intention to seek information regarding COVID-19.FindingsResults of the CFA showed that the expanded PRISM model had good model fit. Additionally, using a custom dialog PROCESS macro in SPSS, it was found that perceptions of existing meetings were directly, positively related to attitude toward seeking, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, and indirectly related to knowledge sufficiency threshold and information seeking. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.Originality/valueThis research adds to the limited body of knowledge of crisis communication and effectively expands the PRISM model to include an antecedent that helps explain information seeking during times of uncertainty.

A Mobile Health Information Behavior Model: Theoretical Development and Mixed-Method Testing in the Context of Mobile Apps on Child Poisoning Prevention

While several studies have explored the use of mobile health applications, few have observed determinants of mobile health information behavior. To develop a model explaining parents’ mobile information behavior on child poisoning prevention, we first explored relevant theories to suggest a theoretical model. In that, we combine existing models on risk and health information seeking, such as the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model, with models on the acceptance of mobile technologies, such as the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technologies. Thereafter, we employed a sequential mixed-method design with an initial qualitative study (four online focus groups with n = 25 parents in total) and a standardized online survey of n = 1,013 parents to evaluate our research model. Results confirm that both, determinants of information seeking and determinants of technology acceptance, contribute to the explanation of mobile information behavior. App use intention was mainly related to the performance expectancy of app use, the subjective information norm, and social influence on app use. To increase the usage of prevention apps and contribute to the reduction of child injuries, communication on poisoning apps should address subdimensions of the performance expectancy, such as their utility and peoples’ trust in app providers. Moreover, physicians are important multipliers for these messages.

Purchase intention of Autonomous vehicles and industrial Policies: Evidence from a national survey in China

In recent years, governments have successively introduced a variety of policies to promote the development of the autonomous vehicle (AV) industry and technology. Existing research sheds light on individuals’ decision process regarding their willingness to purchase AVs or legislation and policy design from the perspective of policymakers, regulators and experts. Little research has been conducted to explore what incentive policies consumers demand and how the policies affect their purchase intentions. In this study, a decision model of AV purchase intentions is proposed through a combination of the planned risk information seeking model (PRISM) and innovation diffusion theory (IDT), and the decision model is utilized to explore the mechanism of the influence of incentive policies on purchase intentions. The early stage of AV commercialization is the research background, and potential AV consumers are the research object. A national survey was conducted in China, and the empirical results indicate that consumers show higher risk perceptions of AVs and that they are most concerned about the unclear risk involved after the occurrence of traffic accidents by unattended cars. The perceived attractiveness of policies such as tax subsidy policies, insurance policies, and commute policies are all significantly and positively correlated with purchase intentions toward AVs. Rational industrial policies have significant effects on mitigating consumer risk perceptions and stimulating purchasing intentions.

A Comparison of Women's and Men's Web-Based Information-Seeking Behaviors About Gender-Related Health Information: Web-Based Survey Study of a Stratified German Sample.

Gender-sensitive approaches to health communication aim to integrate gender perspectives at all levels of communication, as an individual's biological sex and socially assigned gender identity have an impact on whether and how one acquires what type of health information. Due to the fast and low-cost opportunity to search for a wide range of information, the internet seems to be a particularly suitable place for gender-related health information about diseases of sex-specific organs and diseases where biological differences are associated with different health risks. This study aims to inform gender-related information provision and acquisition in 2 ways. The first objective was to provide a theory-driven analysis of web-based health information-seeking behavior (HISB) regarding gender-related issues. Therefore, the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model (PRISM), which is one of the most integrative models of HISB, was adapted and applied. Second, we asked for gender-specific motivational determinants of gender-related web-based HISB comparing the predictors in the groups of women and men. Data from a stratified web-based survey of the German population (N=3000) explained gender-related web-based HISB and influencing patterns comparing women and men. The applicability of PRISM to gender-related web-based HISB was tested using structural equation modeling and a multigroup comparison. The results revealed PRISM as an effective framework for explaining gender-related web-based HISB. The model accounted for 28.8% of the variance in gender-related web-based HISB. Gender-related subjective norms provided the most crucial explanatory power, followed by perceived seeking control. The multigroup comparison revealed differences in the model's explanatory power and the relevance of predictors of gender-related web-based HISB. The share of explained variances of web-based HISB is higher in men than in women. For men, norms were a more relevant promoting factor, whereas web-based HISB of women was more strongly associated with perceived seeking control. The results are crucial for gender-sensitive targeting strategies and suggest gender-related health information interventions that address gender-related subjective norms. Furthermore, programs (eg, web-based learning units) should be developed and offered to improve individuals' (perceived) abilities to perform web-based searches for health information, as those with higher control beliefs are more likely to access web-based information.

“I feel like the risks far outweigh the benefits of the vaccinations”: investigating vaccine risk perceptions, emotions, and the PRISM framework

ABSTRACT Vaccinations are important tools in public health. Yet, heightened risk perceptions toward vaccines as well as vaccine hesitancy are increasing in society. Thus, the purpose of this study was to learn about risk perceptions and affective risk responses (i.e., emotions) toward vaccines in general and the COVID-19 vaccine, using the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model (PRISM) as a sensitizing framework. Focusing largely on qualitative responses from 336 participants, findings suggest that individuals perceive risk for vaccines in general and the COVID-19 vaccine in terms of safety and side effect concerns. Additionally, both positive and negative emotions were evoked among participants. Findings are discussed in relation to extant research, theoretical implications, and future research.

Cyber anti-intellectualism and information seeking about SARS-CoV-2 variants

While scientific knowledge acquisition is a vital premise for citizens’ self-protection against COVID-19, the impact of anti-intellectualism on scientific information seeking has yet to be fully examined. Based on a cross-sectional survey, this study investigated the association of distrust and stigmatization forms of anti-intellectualism (i.e. AID vs. AIS) with the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model (PRISM) in predicting Chinese netizens’ information seeking about SARS-CoV-2 variants. The statistical results show that AIS is positively associated with seeking-related subjective norms and perceived control, indicating that it may boost a sense of self-empowerment. However, AIS is negatively related to affective risk response and the knowledge-sufficiency threshold, suggesting its possible link to overconfidence and trust in government. AID was found to be negatively associated with seeking-related attitudes and perceived control. Because AIS is far more popular than AID among respondents, its contradictory health implications should be brought into the vision of health communicators.

Understanding the Effects of News-Finds-Me Perception on Health Knowledge and Information Seeking During Public Health Crises

ABSTRACT News-finds-me (NFM) perception is a belief that, in the era of social media, individuals can remain adequately well-informed about current events even if they do not actively seek news. While it has been examined in the context of general and political news, NFM perception has not been explored in the context of other genres of news. Through an online survey involving 1,001 Singaporeans, with the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model, this study examines how NFM perception is related to information seeking and COVID-19 knowledge. An issue-specific NFM perception was also proposed and tested in order to determine whether NFM perception and its associated effects differ when operationalized as general news exposure or issue-specific news relating to COVID-19. The negative relationship between general NFM perception and knowledge and the mediating role of information seeking on social media in this relationship are detected. It is also found that when the NFM perception is issue-specific (i.e. COVID-NFM perception), information insufficiency and intentions of information seeking on social media fully mediated the relationship between NFM perception and knowledge. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Poly Social Media Use: Roles of Informational Norms and Emotion Regulation

ABSTRACT Drawing on the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model (PRISM), research on social norms in communication, and literature on emotion regulation, the current study examines the relationships among poly social media COVID-19 health information searches, informational norms, and health protective behaviors (further interpersonal information seeking and protective measures) during the pandemic. In addition, we explore the moderating role of negative emotions (i.e. anxiety and fear). A cross-sectional survey (N = 510) during an early phase of COVID-19 suggests that the association between social media use and influenced behaviors functions to the extent that individuals perceive the behaviors are expected norms. Even such a mechanism is valid only in some boundary conditions such as emotional states.

Geographic location or experience: Using PRISM to understand how people seek flood risk information.

Flooding is increasing worldwide, and with climate change, people need help understanding these changing conditions and that their flood risk may also change. This study extends the planned risk information seeking model (PRISM) into the flood risk domain and examines the antecedents that explain flood risk information seeking behavior. Using a survey reflective of the population in the state of Texas (N=1079), this study includes an operationalization of risk perception specific to the complexity of floods and explores two key moderators in the PRISM model. Findings suggest that using PRISM to elaborate flood risk information seeking behaviors explains 48% of the variance in information seeking intent and 37% of the variance in affective risk perception. Using multigroup modeling, the findings also reveal that simply living in an area at high risk for floods does not significantly impact any relationships in the model. However, having experience with flooding increases the strength of risk perception paths-in particular, perceived probability of flood risk-and better explains flood risk information seeking. Suggestions for how to use communication to influence risk perceptions and information seeking, as well as future directions for research, are also discussed.

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.

Avoiding Covid-19 risk information in the United States: The role of attitudes, norms, affect, social dominance orientations, and perceived trustworthiness of scientists.

This study seeks guidance from the planned risk information avoidance model to explore drivers of risk information avoidance in the context of COVID‐19. Data were collected early during the pandemic. Among our most notable results is that participants who are more oriented toward social dominance and are more skeptical of scientists’ credibility have (1) more supportive attitudes toward risk information avoidance and (2) feel social pressure to avoid risk information. The findings of this study highlight how the role of skepticism in science and intergroup ideologies, such as social dominance, can have important implications for how people learn about health‐related information, even in times of heightened crisis.