IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i11p6751-d829314.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Official Social Media Affected the Infodemic among Adults during the First Wave of COVID-19 in China

Author

Listed:
  • Huan Liu

    (School of Journalism and New Media, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China)

  • Qiang Chen

    (School of Journalism and New Media, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China)

  • Richard Evans

    (Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that social media can impact society both positively (e.g., keeping citizens connected and informed) and negatively (e.g., the deliberate spreading of misinformation). This study aims to examine the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between official social media accounts and the infodemic, experienced during the first wave of COVID-19 in China. A theoretical model is proposed to examine how official social media accounts affected the infodemic during this period. In total, 1398 questionnaire responses were collected via WeChat and Tencent QQ, two leading Chinese social media platforms. Data analysis was conducted using Partial Lease Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), moderation effect analysis, and mediation effect analysis. Results indicate that the Information Quality (IQ) of Official social media accounts (β = −0.294, p < 0.001) has a significant negative effect on the infodemic. Mediation effect analysis revealed that both social support (β = −0.333, 95% Boot CI (−0.388, −0.280)) and information cascades (β = −0.189, 95% Boot CI (−0.227, −0.151)) mediate the relationship between IQ and the infodemic. Moderation effect analysis shows that private social media usage (F = 85.637, p < 0.001) positively moderates the relationship between IQ and the infodemic, while health literacy has a small negative moderation effect on the relationship between IQ and the infodemic. Our findings show that, in the context of Chinese media, official social media accounts act as a major source of information for influencing the infodemic through increasing social support and reducing information cascades for citizens.

Suggested Citation

  • Huan Liu & Qiang Chen & Richard Evans, 2022. "How Official Social Media Affected the Infodemic among Adults during the First Wave of COVID-19 in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-18, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:11:p:6751-:d:829314
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/11/6751/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/11/6751/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Farooq, Ali & Laato, Samuli & Islam, A.K.M. Najmul & Isoaho, Jouni, 2021. "Understanding the impact of information sources on COVID-19 related preventive measures in Finland," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    2. Francesca Gallè & Elita Anna Sabella & Paolo Roma & Stefano Ferracuti & Giovanna Da Molin & Giusy Diella & Maria Teresa Montagna & Giovanni Battista Orsi & Giorgio Liguori & Christian Napoli, 2021. "Knowledge and Lifestyle Behaviors Related to COVID-19 Pandemic in People over 65 Years Old from Southern Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-11, October.
    3. Cuiyan Wang & Riyu Pan & Xiaoyang Wan & Yilin Tan & Linkang Xu & Cyrus S. Ho & Roger C. Ho, 2020. "Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-25, March.
    4. Balakrishnan, Vimala & Ng, Kee S. & Rahim, Hajar Abdul, 2021. "To share or not to share – The underlying motives of sharing fake news amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Bikhchandani, Sushil & Hirshleifer, David & Welch, Ivo, 1992. "A Theory of Fads, Fashion, Custom, and Cultural Change in Informational Cascades," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(5), pages 992-1026, October.
    6. Kaya, Tugberk, 2020. "The changes in the effects of social media use of Cypriots due to COVID-19 pandemic," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    7. Mohammed, Abdulalem & Ferraris, Alberto, 2021. "Factors influencing user participation in social media: Evidence from twitter usage during COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    8. Jinling Hua & Rajib Shaw, 2020. "Corona Virus (COVID-19) “Infodemic” and Emerging Issues through a Data Lens: The Case of China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-12, March.
    9. Qihua Liu & Shan Huang & Liyi Zhang, 2016. "The influence of information cascades on online purchase behaviors of search and experience products," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 553-580, December.
    10. King, Gary & Pan, Jennifer & Roberts, Margaret E., 2013. "How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 107(2), pages 326-343, May.
    11. Shmueli, Galit & Ray, Soumya & Velasquez Estrada, Juan Manuel & Chatla, Suneel Babu, 2016. "The elephant in the room: Predictive performance of PLS models," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4552-4564.
    12. Wang, Xia & Yu, Chunling & Wei, Yujie, 2012. "Social Media Peer Communication and Impacts on Purchase Intentions: A Consumer Socialization Framework," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 198-208.
    13. Kim, Jihyun & Merrill Jr., Kelly & Collins, Chad & Yang, Hocheol, 2021. "Social TV viewing during the COVID-19 lockdown: The mediating role of social presence," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    14. Silvio Vismara, 2018. "Information Cascades among Investors in Equity Crowdfunding," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(3), pages 467-497, May.
    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. Dong, Qingxing & Xiong, Siyue & Zhang, Mengyi, 2024. "Remedial behavior for misinformation: A moderated mediation model of remedial attitude and perceived consequence severity," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

    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. Sirola, Anu & Nuckols, Julia & Nyrhinen, Jussi & Wilska, Terhi-Anna, 2022. "The use of the Dark Web as a COVID-19 information source: A three-country study," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    2. Raj, Chahat & Meel, Priyanka, 2022. "People lie, actions Don't! Modeling infodemic proliferation predictors among social media users," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    3. Khan, Nawab Ali & Azhar, Mohd & Rahman, Mohd Nayyer & Akhtar, Mohd Junaid, 2022. "Scale development and validation for usage of social networking sites during COVID-19," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    4. G. Rejikumar & Aswathy Asokan-Ajitha & Sofi Dinesh & Ajay Jose, 2022. "The role of cognitive complexity and risk aversion in online herd behavior," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 585-621, June.
    5. Qihua Liu & Xiaoyu Zhang & Liyi Zhang & Yang Zhao, 2019. "The interaction effects of information cascades, word of mouth and recommendation systems on online reading behavior: an empirical investigation," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 521-547, September.
    6. Lu, Jian & Su, Xiang & Diao, Yajing & Wang, Nianxin & Zhou, Bin, 2021. "Does online observational learning matter? Empirical evidence from panel data," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    7. Kim, Jihyun & Merrill Jr., Kelly & Collins, Chad & Yang, Hocheol, 2021. "Social TV viewing during the COVID-19 lockdown: The mediating role of social presence," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    8. Saul Estrin & Susanna Khavul & Mike Wright, 2022. "Soft and hard information in equity crowdfunding: network effects in the digitalization of entrepreneurial finance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1761-1781, April.
    9. Du, Shaofu & Peng, Jing & Nie, Tengfei & Yu, Yugang, 2020. "Pricing strategies and mechanism choice in reward-based crowdfunding," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 284(3), pages 951-966.
    10. Michael E. Cummings & Hans Rawhouser & Silvio Vismara & Erin L. Hamilton, 2020. "An equity crowdfunding research agenda: evidence from stakeholder participation in the rulemaking process," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 907-932, April.
    11. Aurélien Petit & Peter Wirtz, 2022. "Experts in the crowd and their influence on herding in reward-based crowdfunding of cultural projects," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 419-449, January.
    12. Ali, Mazhar & Amir, Dr.Huma & Shamsi, Dr.Aamir, 2021. "Consumer Herding Behavior in Online Buying: A Literature Review," MPRA Paper 107435, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Dmitri Boreiko & Dimche Risteski, 2021. "Serial and large investors in initial coin offerings," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1053-1071, August.
    14. Barbera, Salvador & Jackson, Matthew O., 2020. "A Model of Protests, Revolution, and Information," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 15(3), pages 297-335, July.
    15. Lozano-Blasco, Raquel & Quilez-Robres, Alberto & Delgado-Bujedo, Diego & Latorre-Martínez, Mª Pilar, 2021. "YouTube's growth in use among children 0–5 during COVID19: The Occidental European case," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    16. Pejman Ebrahimi & Khadija Aya Hamza & Eva Gorgenyi-Hegyes & Hadi Zarea & Maria Fekete-Farkas, 2021. "Consumer Knowledge Sharing Behavior and Consumer Purchase Behavior: Evidence from E-Commerce and Online Retail in Hungary," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-20, September.
    17. Marco Bade & Martin Walther, 2021. "Local preferences and the allocation of attention in equity-based crowdfunding," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(8), pages 2501-2533, November.
    18. Juliane Proelss & Denis Schweizer & Tingyu Zhou, 2021. "Economics of philanthropy—evidence from health crowdfunding," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 999-1026, August.
    19. Camilleri, Mark Anthony & Kozak, Metin, 2022. "Interactive engagement through travel and tourism social media groups: A social facilitation theory perspective," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    20. Yaokuang Li & Li Ling & Daru Zhang & Juan Wu, 2021. "Lead investors and information disclosure: A test of signaling theory by fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis approach," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(4), pages 836-849, June.

    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:19:y:2022:i:11:p:6751-:d:829314. 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.