Linking online vaccine information seeking to vaccination intention in the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Main Authors: ZHENG, Han, JIANG, Shaohai, ROSENTHAL, Sonny
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2022
• Subjects: Negative affective response; online vaccine information seeking; perceived vaccine information overload; vaccination intention; vaccine risk perception; Covid-19; pandemics; Health Communication; Health Information Technology; Public Health
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cis_research/169; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/cis_research/article/1168/viewcontent/Vaccinationintention_2022_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This study examines how online vaccine information seeking is related to vaccination intention in the United States and China during the initial stage of their coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination programs. Analysis of the pooled sample showed a positive relationship between online vaccine information seeking and vaccination intention. There was also a negative indirect effect via perceived information overload, vaccine risk perception, and negative affective response. Multigroup analysis revealed differences between the United States and China. This study highlights the bright and dark sides of online health information during a global pandemic and has practical implications for communication campaigns to promote health-related behaviors.