IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i6p3130-d519523.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Media Exposure, Cancer Beliefs, and Cancer-Related Information-Seeking or Avoidance Behavior Patterns in China

Author

Listed:
  • Rui He

    (Department of Journalism, School of Humanities, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, 100 Wudong RD, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200433, China
    All authors contributed equally to this study.)

  • Yungeng Li

    (School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan RD, Minhang District, Shanghai 200240, China
    All authors contributed equally to this study.)

Abstract

This study explored the relationships between media exposure, cancer beliefs, and cancer information-seeking or information-avoidance behaviors. Based on the planned risk information-seeking model and its extended framework, two predictive models were constructed: one for cancer information seeking and the other for cancer information avoidance. A structural equation modeling strategy was applied to survey data from China HINTS 2017 ( n = 3090) to compare the impact of traditional mass media and social media exposure to cancer-related information on cancer information-seeking and information-avoidance behaviors. The study findings suggest that health-related information exposure through different media channels may generate distinctive information-seeking or information-avoidance behaviors based on various cancer beliefs. Additionally, the findings indicate that social media exposure to health-related and cancer curability beliefs does not lead to cancer information avoidance; both mass media and social media exposure encourage people to seek cancer-related information. Cancer fatalism is positively associated with cancer information-seeking and avoiding intentions, suggesting that negative cancer beliefs predict seemingly contradictory yet psychologically coherent information intentions and behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Rui He & Yungeng Li, 2021. "Media Exposure, Cancer Beliefs, and Cancer-Related Information-Seeking or Avoidance Behavior Patterns in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:3130-:d:519523
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/3130/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/3130/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edmund W.J. Lee & Shirley S. Ho & Josephine K. Chow & Ying Ying Wu & Zixin Yang, 2013. "Communication and knowledge as motivators: understanding Singaporean women's perceived risks of breast cancer and intentions to engage in preventive measures," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(7), pages 879-902, August.
    2. Emanuel, Amber S. & Kiviniemi, Marc T. & Howell, Jennifer L. & Hay, Jennifer L. & Waters, Erika A. & Orom, Heather & Shepperd, James A., 2015. "Avoiding cancer risk information," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 113-120.
    3. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    4. Austin Y. Hubner & Shelly R. Hovick, 2020. "Understanding Risk Information Seeking and Processing during an Infectious Disease Outbreak: The Case of Zika Virus," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(6), pages 1212-1225, June.
    5. Cynthia Chew & Gunther Eysenbach, 2010. "Pandemics in the Age of Twitter: Content Analysis of Tweets during the 2009 H1N1 Outbreak," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(11), pages 1-13, November.
    6. Ruixia Han & Yali Cheng, 2020. "The Influence of Norm Perception on Pro-Environmental Behavior: A Comparison between the Moderating Roles of Traditional Media and Social Media," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-18, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yangkun Huang & Xiaoping Xu & Sini Su, 2021. "Diverging from News Media: An Exploratory Study on the Changing Dynamics between Media and Public Attention on Cancer in China from 2011–2020," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-13, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shu-Chu Sarrina Li & Shih-Yu Lo & Tai-Yee Wu & Te-Lin Chen, 2022. "Information Seeking and Processing during the Outbreak of COVID-19 in Taiwan: Examining the Effects of Emotions and Informational Subjective Norms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-13, August.
    2. Carol Vigurs & Chris Maidment & Michael Fell & David Shipworth, 2021. "Customer Privacy Concerns as a Barrier to Sharing Data about Energy Use in Smart Local Energy Systems: A Rapid Realist Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-33, February.
    3. Md. Moddassir Alam & Abdalwali Lutfi & Abdallah Alsaad, 2023. "Antecedents and Consequences of Customers’ Engagement with Pro-Environmental Consumption-Related Content on Social Media," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-16, February.
    4. Pengya Ai & Wu Li & Wuyue Yang, 2021. "Adolescents’ Social Media Use and Their Voluntary Garbage Sorting Intention: A Sequential Mediation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-12, July.
    5. Weidan Cao & Qinghua Yang & Xinyao Zhang, 2023. "Understanding Information Processing and Protective Behaviors during the Pandemic: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-15, February.
    6. Maria Andersson & Ola Eriksson & Chris Von Borgstede, 2012. "The Effects of Environmental Management Systems on Source Separation in the Work and Home Settings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(6), pages 1-17, June.
    7. Tran Huy Phuong & Thanh Trung Hieu, 2015. "Predictors of Entrepreneurial Intentions of Undergraduate Students in Vietnam: An Empirical Study," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 5(8), pages 46-55, August.
    8. Clara Cardone-Riportella & María José Casasola-Martinez & Isabel Feito-Ruiz, 2014. "Do Entrepreneurs Come From Venus Or Mars? Impact Of Postgraduate Studies: Gender And Family Business Background," Working Papers 14.04, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Financial Economics and Accounting (former Department of Business Administration), revised Sep 2014.
    9. Peng Cheng & Zhe Ouyang & Yang Liu, 0. "The effect of information overload on the intention of consumers to adopt electric vehicles," Transportation, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-20.
    10. Ruijie Zhu & Guojing Zhao & Zehai Long & Yangjie Huang & Zhaoxin Huang, 2022. "Entrepreneurship or Employment? A Survey of College Students’ Sustainable Entrepreneurial Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, May.
    11. Alsalem, Amani & Fry, Marie-Louise & Thaichon, Park, 2020. "To donate or to waste it: Understanding posthumous organ donation attitude," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 87-97.
    12. Pan, Jing Yu & Liu, Dahai, 2022. "Mask-wearing intentions on airplanes during COVID-19 – Application of theory of planned behavior model," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 32-44.
    13. Benoît Lécureux & Adrien Bonnet & Ouassim Manout & Jaâfar Berrada & Louafi Bouzouina, 2022. "Acceptance of Shared Autonomous Vehicles: A Literature Review of stated choice experiments," Working Papers hal-03814947, HAL.
    14. Jacqueline Ruth & Steffen Willwacher & Oliver Korn, 2022. "Acceptance of Digital Sports: A Study Showing the Rising Acceptance of Digital Health Activities Due to the SARS-CoV-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-16, January.
    15. Jariyasunant, Jerald & Carrel, Andre & Ekambaram, Venkatesan & Gaker, David & Sengupta, Raja & Walker, Joan L., 2012. "The Quantified Traveler: Changing transport behavior with personalized travel data feedback," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt3047k0dw, University of California Transportation Center.
    16. Brown, Philip & Roper, Simon, 2017. "Innovation and networks in New Zealand farming," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 61(3), July.
    17. Teodora Roman, 2009. "Study regarding entrepreneurial intentions among students," THE YEARBOOK OF THE "GH. ZANE" INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC RESEARCHES, Gheorghe Zane Institute for Economic and Social Research ( from THE ROMANIAN ACADEMY, JASSY BRANCH), vol. 18, pages 87-94.
    18. Messele Kumilachew Aga, 2023. "The mediating role of perceived behavioral control in the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions of university students in Ethiopia," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, December.
    19. Kristin Thomas & Evalill Nilsson & Karin Festin & Pontus Henriksson & Mats Lowén & Marie Löf & Margareta Kristenson, 2020. "Associations of Psychosocial Factors with Multiple Health Behaviors: A Population-Based Study of Middle-Aged Men and Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-17, February.
    20. Andreas Falke & Nadine Schröder & Claudia Hofmann, 2022. "The influence of values in sustainable consumption among millennials," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(6), pages 899-928, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:3130-:d:519523. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.