IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i3p1347-d734030.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Role of Infodemics on Social Media in the Development of People’s Readiness to Follow COVID-19 Preventive Measures

Author

Listed:
  • Bireswar Dutta

    (Department of Information Technology and Management, Shih Chien University Taipei Campus, Taipei 10462, Taiwan)

  • Mei-Hui Peng

    (Institute of Information Management, National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300044, Taiwan
    Institute of Information Management, Minghsin University of Science and Technology, Hsinchu 300044, Taiwan)

  • Chien-Chih Chen

    (Institute of Information Management, Minghsin University of Science and Technology, Hsinchu 300044, Taiwan)

  • Shu-Lung Sun

    (Institute of Information Management, National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300044, Taiwan)

Abstract

Unparalleled levels of misinformation have contributed to widespread misunderstandings about the nature of the coronavirus, its cure and preventative measures. Misinformation crosses borders rapidly with the help of social media, and this phenomenon is constantly increasing. Thus, the current study proposes a research framework to explore how citizens’ trust in government and social media influences their readiness to follow COVID-19 preventive measures. Additionally, the role of a health infodemic was explored in perceptions and relationships among factors influencing an individual’s readiness to follow COVID-19 preventive measures with data collected from 396 participants in Taiwan. The findings indicate citizens’ trust in social media (TRSM), attitude (ATT), perceived benefit (PBT), personal innovativeness, and how peer referents positively influence their readiness. However, the relationship between citizens’ trust in the government (TRGT) and their readiness to follow COVID-19 preventive measures (INT) is not statistically significant. The current study also explores the negative moderating effect of health infodemics on the relationship between TRSM and INT, TRGT and INT, ATT and INT, PBT and INT. Thus, the Taiwanese government must consider the current study’s findings to develop attractively, informed, and evidence-based content, which helps its citizens improve their health literacy and counter the spread of misinformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Bireswar Dutta & Mei-Hui Peng & Chien-Chih Chen & Shu-Lung Sun, 2022. "Role of Infodemics on Social Media in the Development of People’s Readiness to Follow COVID-19 Preventive Measures," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-22, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1347-:d:734030
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1347/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1347/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Muhammad Hasnain Abbas Naqvi & Yushi Jiang & Miao Miao & Mishal Hasnain Naqvi, 2020. "The effect of social influence, trust, and entertainment value on social media use: Evidence from Pakistan," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 1723825-172, January.
    2. Peng Zhou & Xing-Lou Yang & Xian-Guang Wang & Ben Hu & Lei Zhang & Wei Zhang & Hao-Rui Si & Yan Zhu & Bei Li & Chao-Lin Huang & Hui-Dong Chen & Jing Chen & Yun Luo & Hua Guo & Ren-Di Jiang & Mei-Qin L, 2020. "Addendum: A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin," Nature, Nature, vol. 588(7836), pages 6-6, December.
    3. Harun Yildiz, 2019. "The Interactive Effect of Positive Psychological Capital and Organizational Trust on Organizational Citizenship Behavior," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(3), pages 21582440198, July.
    4. Peng Zhou & Xing-Lou Yang & Xian-Guang Wang & Ben Hu & Lei Zhang & Wei Zhang & Hao-Rui Si & Yan Zhu & Bei Li & Chao-Lin Huang & Hui-Dong Chen & Jing Chen & Yun Luo & Hua Guo & Ren-Di Jiang & Mei-Qin L, 2020. "A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin," Nature, Nature, vol. 579(7798), pages 270-273, March.
    5. Kawaljeet Kaur Kapoor & Kuttimani Tamilmani & Nripendra P. Rana & Pushp Patil & Yogesh K. Dwivedi & Sridhar Nerur, 2018. "Advances in Social Media Research: Past, Present and Future," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 531-558, June.
    6. Hasan Zahid & Badariah Haji Din, 2019. "Determinants of Intention to Adopt E-Government Services in Pakistan: An Imperative for Sustainable Development," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-25, July.
    7. Johanna Birkhäuer & Jens Gaab & Joe Kossowsky & Sebastian Hasler & Peter Krummenacher & Christoph Werner & Heike Gerger, 2017. "Trust in the health care professional and health outcome: A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-13, February.
    8. Bernadette Hyland-Wood & John Gardner & Julie Leask & Ullrich K. H. Ecker, 2021. "Toward effective government communication strategies in the era of COVID-19," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, December.
    9. Tali Sharot & Cass R. Sunstein, 2020. "How people decide what they want to know," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 14-19, January.
    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. Pilar Bas-Sarmiento & María José Lamas-Toranzo & Martina Fernández-Gutiérrez & Miriam Poza-Méndez, 2022. "Health Literacy, Misinformation, Self-Perceived Risk and Fear, and Preventive Measures Related to COVID-19 in Spanish University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Xiaojie Zhang & Lili Wang, 2022. "Factors Contributing to Citizens’ Participation in COVID-19 Prevention and Control in China: An Integrated Model Based on Theory of Planned Behavior, Norm Activation Model, and Political Opportunity S," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Isolde Martina Busch & Silvia Savazzi & Giuseppe Bertini & Paola Cesari & Olivia Guaraldo & Michela Nosè & Corrado Barbui & Michela Rimondini, 2022. "A Practical Framework for Academics to Implement Public Engagement Interventions and Measure Their Impact," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-17, October.

    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. Jun-Yu Si & Yuan-Mei Chen & Ye-Hui Sun & Meng-Xue Gu & Mei-Ling Huang & Lu-Lu Shi & Xiao Yu & Xiao Yang & Qing Xiong & Cheng-Bao Ma & Peng Liu & Zheng-Li Shi & Huan Yan, 2024. "Sarbecovirus RBD indels and specific residues dictating multi-species ACE2 adaptiveness," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Shahadat Uddin & Arif Khan & Haohui Lu & Fangyu Zhou & Shakir Karim, 2022. "Suburban Road Networks to Explore COVID-19 Vulnerability and Severity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-9, February.
    3. Kirsten R.C. Hensgens & Inge H.T. van Rensen & Anita W. Lekx & Frits H.M. van Osch & Lieve H.H. Knarren & Caroline E. Wyers & Joop P. van den Bergh & Dennis G. Barten, 2021. "Sort and Sieve: Pre-Triage Screening of Patients with Suspected COVID-19 in the Emergency Department," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-11, September.
    4. Quan-Hoang Vuong & Tam-Tri Le & Viet-Phuong La & Huyen Thanh Thanh Nguyen & Manh-Toan Ho & Quy Khuc & Minh-Hoang Nguyen, 2022. "Covid-19 vaccines production and societal immunization under the serendipity-mindsponge-3D knowledge management theory and conceptual framework," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Hengrui Liu & Sho Iketani & Arie Zask & Nisha Khanizeman & Eva Bednarova & Farhad Forouhar & Brandon Fowler & Seo Jung Hong & Hiroshi Mohri & Manoj S. Nair & Yaoxing Huang & Nicholas E. S. Tay & Sumin, 2022. "Development of optimized drug-like small molecule inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease for treatment of COVID-19," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Graziella Orrù & Ciro Conversano & Eleonora Malloggi & Francesca Francesconi & Rebecca Ciacchini & Angelo Gemignani, 2020. "Neurological Complications of COVID-19 and Possible Neuroinvasion Pathways: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-18, September.
    7. Gleidson Sobreira Leite & Adriano Bessa Albuquerque & Plácido Rogerio Pinheiro, 2021. "Applications of Technological Solutions in Primary Ways of Preventing Transmission of Respiratory Infectious Diseases—A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-50, October.
    8. Britton Boras & Rhys M. Jones & Brandon J. Anson & Dan Arenson & Lisa Aschenbrenner & Malina A. Bakowski & Nathan Beutler & Joseph Binder & Emily Chen & Heather Eng & Holly Hammond & Jennifer Hammond , 2021. "Preclinical characterization of an intravenous coronavirus 3CL protease inhibitor for the potential treatment of COVID19," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, December.
    9. Susanne Kessler & Bradly Burke & Geoffroy Andrieux & Jan Schinköthe & Lea Hamberger & Johannes Kacza & Shijun Zhan & Clara Reasoner & Taru S. Dutt & Maria Kaukab Osman & Marcela Henao-Tamayo & Julian , 2024. "Deciphering bat influenza H18N11 infection dynamics in male Jamaican fruit bats on a single-cell level," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, December.
    10. Yongzhu Xiong & Yunpeng Wang & Feng Chen & Mingyong Zhu, 2020. "Spatial Statistics and Influencing Factors of the COVID-19 Epidemic at Both Prefecture and County Levels in Hubei Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-26, May.
    11. Eugene Song & Jae-Eun Lee & Seola Kwon, 2021. "Effect of Public Empathy with Infection-Control Guidelines on Infection-Prevention Attitudes and Behaviors: Based on the Case of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-18, December.
    12. Fabiana Fiasca & Mauro Minelli & Dominga Maio & Martina Minelli & Ilaria Vergallo & Stefano Necozione & Antonella Mattei, 2020. "Associations between COVID-19 Incidence Rates and the Exposure to PM2.5 and NO 2 : A Nationwide Observational Study in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-10, December.
    13. Małgorzata Dudzińska & Marta Gwiaździńska-Goraj & Aleksandra Jezierska-Thöle, 2022. "Social Factors as Major Determinants of Rural Development Variation for Predicting Epidemic Vulnerability: A Lesson for the Future," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-24, October.
    14. James, Nick & Menzies, Max, 2023. "Collective infectivity of the pandemic over time and association with vaccine coverage and economic development," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    15. Jaeyong Lee & Calem Kenward & Liam J. Worrall & Marija Vuckovic & Francesco Gentile & Anh-Tien Ton & Myles Ng & Artem Cherkasov & Natalie C. J. Strynadka & Mark Paetzel, 2022. "X-ray crystallographic characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease polyprotein cleavage sites essential for viral processing and maturation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    16. Xu, Baochang & Li, Sihui & Afzal, Ayesha & Mirza, Nawazish & Zhang, Meng, 2022. "The impact of financial development on environmental sustainability: A European perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. Leili Mohammadi & Ahmad Mehravaran & Zahra Derakhshan & Ehsan Gharehchahi & Elza Bontempi & Mohammad Golaki & Razieh Khaksefidi & Mohadeseh Motamed-Jahromi & Mahsa Keshtkar & Amin Mohammadpour & Hamid, 2022. "Investigating the Role of Environmental Factors on the Survival, Stability, and Transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and Their Contribution to COVID-19 Outbreak: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-16, September.
    18. Jing Wang & Yuan-fei Pan & Li-fen Yang & Wei-hong Yang & Kexin Lv & Chu-ming Luo & Juan Wang & Guo-peng Kuang & Wei-chen Wu & Qin-yu Gou & Gen-yang Xin & Bo Li & Huan-le Luo & Shoudeng Chen & Yue-long, 2023. "Individual bat virome analysis reveals co-infection and spillover among bats and virus zoonotic potential," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    19. Nur Hannani Bi Rahman & Shazmin Shareena A. Azis & Ibrahim Sipan, 2021. "COVID-19: Standard Operating Procedure Improvement For Green Office Building Using Indoor Environmental Quality," LARES lares-2021-4dqg, Latin American Real Estate Society (LARES).
    20. Ho‐fung Hung, 2022. "The Virus, the Dollar, and the Global Order: The COVID‐19 Crisis in Comparative Perspective," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(6), pages 1177-1199, November.

    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:3:p:1347-:d:734030. 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.