Sharing News About COVID-19: Media Exposure, Self-Perceived Knowledge, and the Gap of Perceived Susceptibility of Self/Strangers

Authors

  • Yihan Li The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Han Fu The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The School of Journalism and Communication

Keywords:

COVID-19, O-S-O-R model, media exposure, self-perceived knowledge, news sharing, perceived susceptibility

Abstract

This research concerns information sharing during the first outbreak of COVID-19 in China. Back then, Chinese residents heavily relied on the Internet to acquire and disseminate information to connect with the outside because of the forced nation-wide lockdown. This study applies the O-S-O-R model to examine the mechanism from news exposure (S) to news sharing (R) with self-perceived knowledge as the mediator between S and R and the gap of perceived susceptibility of self/strangers as a moderator. An online survey of 517 Chinese college students was conducted. Results show that news exposure is positively related to news sharing, which is mediated by self-perceived knowledge about COVID-19. In addition, participants tend to share COVID-19-related news if they believe that they are more likely to be affected by the virus than strangers, showing that their online sharing behavior is arguably motivated by a pseudoaltruism. These findings contribute to the research on health news effects by applying the O-S-O-R model and supporting its utility in the context of a health crisis.

Author Biographies

Yihan Li, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

PhD candidate, The School of Journalism and Communication

Han Fu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The School of Journalism and Communication

PhD candidate, The School of Journalism and Communication

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Published

2023-11-13

Issue

Vol. 17 (2023)

Section

Articles

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