Factors affecting individual online rumor sharing behavior in the COVID-19 pandemic

Peng Luo; Chenxiao Wang; Feng Guo; Li Luo

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2021.106968

Factors affecting individual online rumor sharing behavior in the COVID-19 pandemic

Comput Human Behav. 2021 Dec:125:106968. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2021.106968. Epub 2021 Jul 27.

Authors

Peng Luo¹, Chenxiao Wang², Feng Guo³, Li Luo¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Business, Sichuan University, No.24 South Section 1, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, China.
² School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, 92 West Dazhi Street, Nan Gang District, Harbin, 150001, China.
³ College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300072, China.

Abstract

With the outbreak of COVID-19, online sharing of rumors about the disease is of growing concern worldwide. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, this study aims to explore the impacts of peer condition and peer communication on fear of COVID-19, and the impact of fear of COVID-19 on online rumor sharing behavior, by considering the contingency effect of health self-efficacy. Data from 1167 respondents to an online survey in China were adopted to test our research model. The results indicate that peer communication and peer condition induce fear of COVID-19, and fear of COVID-19 results in online rumor sharing. Fear of COVID-19 mediates the effects of peer communication and peer condition on online rumor sharing. Health self-efficacy alleviates the positive effect of peer communication on fear of COVID-19, and the positive effect of fear of COVID-19 on online rumor sharing. This study advances the literature on online rumor sharing and S-O-R, and provides practical implications to social media users and governments.

Keywords: COVID-19; Peer communication; Peer condition; Rumor sharing; Stimulus–organism–response framework.