The influence of psychological language words contained in microblogs on dissemination behaviour in emergency situations – mediating effects of emotional responses

Individuals’ psychological processes during emergencies are critical to the understanding of social media user reactions. However, previous studies have paid little attention to the influence of psychological processes on information dissemination behaviours. To provide authorities with a better understanding of dissemination behaviours from the perspective of psychological language use, we used the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) and dual-process models to analyze the effect of words expressing severity and susceptibility on the dissemination behaviours of Weibo users during the avian influenza epidemic. We also explored the mediating effects of emotional responses on the relationship between cognitive responses and dissemination behaviours. The results show that words expressing severity and susceptibility significantly affected the cognitive and emotional responses of users. Weibo user perception and cognition, positive and negative emotions significantly and positively affected their dissemination behaviours. Positive and negative emotions played a partial mediating role in perception responses, cognitive responses, and dissemination behaviours. These findings may assist governments or emergency management departments to effectively control and guide public opinion.