COVID-19 Information Overload Mediated the Effects of Cross-Channel Information Differences on Health Information Elaboration

Correlates of COVID-19 Information Overload and Information Seeking: Evidence from a Community Survey

“…The observed negative relationship between information overload and frequency of health information seeking aligns with the evidence that information overload leads to negative cognitive, attitudinal, and emotional reactions and avoidance of health information. [7][8][9][10]19 We also found that information overload was related to fewer types of information sought. In particular, information overload was negatively related to the likelihood of searching for information related to COVID-19 symptoms, testing options, and treatmentinformation that is more relevant post-COVID 19 contraction.…”

“…Information overload leads to unproductive behaviors, including more avoidance, less elaboration, and less seeking of information. [7][8][9][10] However, as information behaviors tend to be studied in an aggregate form, 11 we do not know enough about what types of health information people seek in relation to information overload.…”

“…People who suffer information overload experience negative reactions to health information and avoid engaging with it and seeking further information. [7][8][9][10]19,27,28 If information overload leads to avoidance (e.g., 10,19,27 it follows that information overload decreases frequency of information seeking.…”

“…With this issue in mind, we investigate the sum of types of COVID-19 information sought and each type of information separately. Research on information overload has paid limited attention to this nuanced issue, but based on existing work (e.g., 8,27 it is reasonable to expect that those who experience information overload seek fewer types of information. By contrast, it is not clear how information overload influences seeking of specific type of information.…”

“…4,17 A host of factors contribute to information overload, including attributes of information (e.g., quality) and channels by which information is delivered (e.g., email). 5,6,8 While content- and source-based factors are important, they do not fully explain variations in information overload among recipients. Existing literature shows the importance of human factors in the process (e.g.,.…”