COVID‐19 Increases Online Searches for Emotional and Health‐Related Terms

Du, Hongfei; Yang, Jing; King, Ronnel B.; Yang, Lei; Chi, Peilian

doi:10.1111/aphw.12237

Cited by 69 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The current theoretical panic buying research is very limited. Within which, most research employs the stimulus-organism-response model [ 144 ], protective action decision model [ 145 ], competitive arousal model [ 144 ], or its extension by infusing constructs such as fear or trust [ 146 ] and herding behavior or observational learning [ 147 ]. This research paper expands on the work of [ 67 ] and [ 21 ] and offers an alternative analysis of determinants for panic buying.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Determinants of Panic Buying during COVID-19

Chua

Yuen

Wang

et al. 2021

IJERPH

124

106

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen an unmatched level of panic buying globally, a type of herd behavior whereby consumers buy an uncommonly huge amount of products because of a perception of scarcity. Drawing on the health belief model, perceived scarcity, and anticipated regret theories, this paper formulated a theoretical model that linked the determinants of panic buying and analyzed their interrelationships. Subsequently, data were collated from 508 consumers through an online survey questionnaire in Singapore that was conducted during the early stage of the pandemic, before the onset of the circuit breaker in April 2020. Next, an analysis of the results was done through structural equation modeling. It showed that the effect of the health belief model dimensions (i.e., perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, outcome expectation, cues to action, and self-efficacy) on panic buying is partially mediated by the consumers’ perceived scarcity of products. Furthermore, the effect of perceived scarcity on panic buying is partially mediated by consumers’ anticipation of regret. This paper expands on the current theoretical understanding of panic buying behavior, giving insights into the possible measures and solutions that policymakers and relevant stakeholders can uptake to manage panic buying in future a pandemic or health crisis.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Determinants of Panic Buying during COVID-19

Chua

Yuen

Wang

et al. 2021

IJERPH

124

106

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The difference was plausibly attributed to greater reliance on Internet devices for various purposes during the pandemic, which made people more vulnerable to PSU. As shown in recent research, the increased number of COVID-19 infected cases has consistently led to more online searches regarding protective behaviors, health knowledge, and panic buying across four countries [ 53 ]. Given that the smartphone is the most widely used device by Chinese netizens to access the Internet (i.e., 99.3%; compared to 42.7% desktop computers and 35.1% laptops [ 54 ]), we may expect that a large proportion of the increase in Internet searches concerning COVID-19 would be performed in smartphones among Chinese netizens.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Problematic Smartphone Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Its Association with Pandemic-Related and Generalized Beliefs

Zhang

Chen

Tong

et al. 2021

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Smartphone technologies have played a crucial role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the increased use of smartphones during the pandemic period may expose the general public to a higher risk of problematic smartphone use (PSU). This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of PSU among Chinese community adults and adopted a social-cognitive theory and social axiom framework to evaluate the effects of beliefs on PSU. A Chinese adult sample (N = 616) was obtained through probability sampling via a telephone survey from Macao, China and included 591 smartphone users’ data (39.4% men) for formal analysis. The prevalence of PSU was 43.3% in the overall sample, with 41.9% in women, and 45.5% in men. Two types of beliefs derived from the social-cognitive theory, pandemic-related self-efficacy and government efficacy, both showed significant and negative correlations with PSU (r = −0.13 and −0.10, p < 0.05). As for the two beliefs from the social axiom framework, reward for application was negatively correlated with PSU (r = −0.10, p < 0.05), whereas social cynicism was positively associated with PSU (r = 0.25, p < 0.001). Among those four beliefs, social cynicism exerted the most substantial effect on PSU when controlling for demographics. Our findings enriched the understanding of PSU during the pandemic and provided empirical direction regarding cognition-based intervention strategies for reducing PSU.

show abstract

“…Fear appeal theories posit that the threat information of a disease elicits fear or anxiety, and fear or anxiety in turn motivates people to pay attention to related information and initiate behavioral changes to protect themselves (Floyd et al, 2000 ; Kok et al, 2014 ; Ling et al, 2019 ). For example, based on fear appeal theories, Du et al ( 2020 ) found that increased information about prevalence rates of COVID-19 was associated with more searches for protective behaviors of the public, and Scopelliti et al ( 2021 ) emphasized that moderate levels of fear have increased the public’s preventive behaviors in the use of public spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we believe that fear appeal theories can also help us explore the effects of information about the location of patients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using fear appeal theories to understand the effects of location information of patients on citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic

Deng

Liu

2021

Curr Psychol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

During the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the effects of location information of patients has significant theoretical and practical implications for public crisis management and health communication. Based on fear appeal theories, this research proposed a chain reaction model that links physical distance to the nearest patients, which is informed by the location information of patients, citizens’ anxiety, attention to information and preventive behaviors. To test the hypothesized model, we conducted a study during the COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China in March 2020. The survey of 2061 people from 244 cities across 30 provinces showed that physical distance to confirmed cases has a significant influence on citizens’ anxiety, which in turn can improve their preventive behaviors through the mediating factor of attention to information. In addition, this research also revealed the twofold effects of vertical collectivism as a personality trait on anxiety. These findings will provide support to help governments take actions to reduce citizens’ anxiety and promote preventive behaviors.

show abstract

COVID‐19 Increases Online Searches for Emotional and Health‐Related Terms

Cited by 69 publications

References 32 publications

The Determinants of Panic Buying during COVID-19

The Determinants of Panic Buying during COVID-19

Problematic Smartphone Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Its Association with Pandemic-Related and Generalized Beliefs

Using fear appeal theories to understand the effects of location information of patients on citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About