Understanding the impact of information sources on COVID-19 related preventive measures in Finland

Ali Farooq; Samuli Laato; A K M Najmul Islam; Jouni Isoaho

doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101573

Understanding the impact of information sources on COVID-19 related preventive measures in Finland

Technol Soc. 2021 May:65:101573. doi: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101573. Epub 2021 Apr 3.

Authors

Ali Farooq¹, Samuli Laato¹, A K M Najmul Islam^{1

2}, Jouni Isoaho¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Computing, University of Turku, Finland.
² LUT School of Engineering Science, LUT University, Lappeenranta, Finland.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic amplified the influence of information reporting on human behavior, as people were forced to quickly adapt to a new health threatening situation by relying on new information. Drawing from protection-motivation and cognitive load theories, we formulated a structural model eliciting the impact of the three online information sources: (1) social media, (2) official websites, and (3) other online news sources; on motivation to adopt recommended COVID-19 preventive measures. The model was tested with the data collected from university employees and students (n = 225) in March 2020 through an online survey and analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). We observed that social media and other online news sources increased information overload amongst the online information sources. This, in turn, negatively affected individuals' self-isolation intention by increasing perceived response costs and decreasing response efficacy. The study highlights the role of online information sources on preventive behaviors during pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Hygienic care; Information overload; Online information sources; Protection motivation theory; Self-isolation; Social media.