Factors affecting individual online rumor sharing behavior in the COVID-19 pandemic

Factors influencing college students' online rumor refuting behavior during major public health crises: the moderating effect of group norms

This study integrates SOR (Stimuli-Organism-Response) theoretical framework and rational behavior theory within a theoretical framework, incorporating group norms as a moderating factor to investigate the psychological mechanisms influencing Chinese college students' online rumor-refutation behavior amidst public health crises. Using the structural equation modeling research method, data was collected via questionnaires from 1,254 participants in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings indicate that both online and offline information seeking are positively correlated with college students' attitudes and subjective norms. Moreover, the attitudes and subjective norms of college students are positively correlated with the online rumor refuting behavior. Furthermore, group norms serve to strengthen the connection between college students' attitudes and their engagement in online refuting rumors. These results illuminate the psychological underpinnings driving college students' online rumor-refuting actions, offering practical and policy implications for effectively managing rumor behaviors.

Challenge or Hindrance? The Dual Impact of Algorithmic Control on Gig Workers' Prosocial Service Behaviors

Algorithmic technological progress presents both opportunities and challenges for organizational management. The success of online labor platforms hinges on algorithmic control, making it imperative to explore how this control affects gig workers' prosocial service behaviors. Drawing from affective event theory, our study delves into the factors influencing gig workers' prosocial service behaviors in the online labor platform setting. We utilize the challenge-hindrance appraisal framework to highlight the pivotal role of algorithmic control. To rigorously test our hypotheses, we gathered empirical data from an online questionnaire survey of 660 gig workers. Our results indicate that challenge appraisals and hindrance appraisals in regard to platform algorithm control have a nuanced dual impact on gig workers' prosocial service behaviors. This relationship is clarified by the mediating function of work engagement. A challenge appraisal of platform algorithmic control can positively influence gig workers' prosocial service behaviors. However, hindrance appraisal of platform algorithmic control can negatively influence gig workers' prosocial service behaviors. Interestingly, workplace interpersonal capitalization boosts the effect of challenge appraisal on employees' prosocial service behaviors. However, it does not mitigate the adverse effects of hindrance appraisal on such behaviors. This study has multiple theoretical implications, and it also provides valuable practical insights into organizational management.

Co-creation of a novel approach for improving supply chain management for SARS-CoV-2 point of care diagnostic services in Mopani District, Limpopo Province: nominal group technique

Introduction

Effective supply chain management (SCM) of point-of-care (POC) tests for diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) requires active participation from diverse stakeholders, government entities, and regulatory bodies. The responsibility for overseeing various aspects of POC tests, including procurement, quality assurance, storage, inventory management, distribution, and human resource capacity, lies with national, provincial, and local levels of government. This study aimed to collaboratively develop an innovative approach to enhance SCM for SARS-CoV-2 POC diagnostic services in resource-limited settings, using the Mopani District in Limpopo province, South Africa, as a case study.

Methods

Key stakeholders were invited to participate in an online workshop using purposive sampling. The study employed the nominal group technique (NGT) for data collection, which consisted of two phases. Phase 1 focused on identifying barriers in the supply chain of COVID-19 rapid tests, while phase 2 aimed to devise strategies to overcome the priority barriers identified in phase 1. Participants used a Likert scale of 1-5 to rank barriers and strategies, and an overall ranking score was calculated for each. The participants were provided with the results of the ranking exercise for their feedback.

Results

Eleven key stakeholders from national (n = 1), provincial (n = 4), and local government (n = 2) levels, research entities (n = 3), and non-governmental organizations (n = 1) took part in the study. Participants identified significant barriers in the supply chain, such as the availability of testing kits, unknown demand, information on SCM during a pandemic, methods of controlling stock, and procurement processes. Strategies suggested by key stakeholders included monitoring stock levels and optimizing stock visibility systems to improve test availability, enhancing information visibility and consistent data updates to address unknown demand and improve SCM during a pandemic, employing data capturing and digitization for effective stock control, and implementing demand planning and standardized procurement processes at the national level to enhance stock procurement.

Discussion

The successful collaboration with key stakeholders, facilitated by the NGT, resulted in the co-creation of a novel approach to enhance SCM for COVID-19 diagnostic services in resource-limited settings. This study holds the potential to support the provision of COVID-19 diagnostic services in such settings. A recommended follow-up study would assess the feasibility of implementing this approach.

The effects of social media usage on vicarious traumatization and the mediation role of recommendation systems usage and peer communication in China after the aircraft flight accident

Background: Previous research has indicated that continuous exposure to disaster-related information through social media can lead to vicarious trauma. However, scholars have recognized the need for further in-depth research into the underlying mechanisms influencing this relationship.Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact mechanism of social media usage on vicarious traumatization in users and analyze the roles of recommendation systems and peer communication.Methods: This study was conducted with college students in China, focusing on the context of the MU5735 aircraft flight accident in China in which 123 passengers and 9 crew members died. Data were collected through an online questionnaire. The partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) method was used to test the data and model.Results: This study obtained valid responses from 1317 participants. The study findings revealed a significant positive correlation between social media usage(β = 0.180，P < .001), recommendation systems usage (β = 0.172, P < .001), peer communication (β = 0.303, P < .001), and the development of vicarious traumatization. Recommendation systems usage (specific indirect effect  = 0.063, P < .001) and peer communication (specific indirect effect  = 0.138, P < .001) mediated the relationship between social media use and vicarious trauma. Additionally, the impact of peer communication on vicarious trauma was found to be higher compared to the effects of continuous social media use and recommendation system use.Conclusion: The study found that the use of social media to obtain information about accidents, the frequent pushing of accident information by recommender systems, and the frequent discussion of accidents among peers during unexpected accidents contribute to vicarious traumatization. The study suggests that users' reduced retrieval of accident information via social media, as well as reduced peer-to-peer discussions about accidents, and social media platforms' adjustment of recommender system algorithm rules to reduce accident information pushes, may help reduce the likelihood of users experiencing vicarious traumatization.

Survival analysis of the duration of rumors during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic towards the end of 2019 triggered a relentless spread of online misinformation, which significantly impacted societal stability, public perception, and the effectiveness of measures to prevent and control the epidemic. Understanding the complex dynamics and characteristics that determine the duration of rumors is crucial for their effective management. In response to this urgent requirement, our study takes survival analysis method to analyze COVID-19 rumors comprehensively and rigorously. Our primary aim is to clarify the distribution patterns and key determinants of their persistence. Through this exploration, we aim to contribute to the development of robust rumor management strategies, thereby reducing the adverse effects of misinformation during the ongoing pandemic.

METHODS

The dataset utilized in this research was sourced from Tencent's "Jiao Zhen" Verification Platform's "Real-Time Debunking of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia" system. We gathered a total of 754 instances of rumors from January 18, 2020, to January 17, 2023. The duration of each rumor was ascertained using the Baidu search engine. To analyze these rumors, survival analysis techniques were applied. The study focused on examining various factors that might influence the rumors' longevity, including the theme of the content, emotional appeal, the credibility of the source, and the mode of presentation.

RESULTS

Our study's results indicate that a rumor's lifecycle post-emergence typically progresses through three distinct phases: an initial rapid decline phase (0-25 days), followed by a stable phase (25-1000 days), and ultimately, an extinction phase (beyond 1000 days). It is observed that half of the rumors fade within the first 25 days, with an average duration of approximately 260.15 days. When compared to the baseline category of prevention and treatment rumors, the risk of dissipation is markedly higher in other categories: policy measures rumors are 3.58 times more likely to perish, virus information rumors have a 0.52 times higher risk, epidemic situation rumors are 4.86 times more likely to die out, and social current affairs rumors face a 2.02 times increased risk. Additionally, in comparison to wish rumors, bogie rumors and aggression rumors have 0.26 and 0.27 times higher risks of dying, respectively. In terms of presentation, graphical and video rumors share similar dissolution risks, whereas textual rumors tend to have a longer survival time. Interestingly, the credibility of the rumor's source does not significantly impact its longevity.

CONCLUSION

The survival time of rumors is strongly linked to their content theme and emotional appeal, whereas the credibility of the source and the format of presentation have a more auxiliary influence. This study recommends that government agencies should adopt specific strategies to counter rumors. Experts and scholars are encouraged to take an active role in spreading health knowledge. It's important for the public to proactively seek trustworthy sources for accurate information. Media platforms are advised to maintain journalistic integrity, verify the accuracy of information, and guide the public towards improved media literacy. These actions, collectively, can foster a collaborative alliance between the government and the media, effectively combating misinformation.

Exploring rumor behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic through an information processing perspective: The moderating role of critical thinking

In the midst of the pervasive disruption caused by the proliferation of rumors, it is unclear how individuals react to such information. Guided by the SOR theory (Stimuli-Organism-Response), our study investigates the association between different information sources (stimuli), emotions experienced by individuals (organism), and resulting rumor behaviors such as sharing and refuting (response). Furthermore, we examine the moderating role of individual critical thinking in this process. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a study scenario, we collected questionnaire data from 4588 respondents. Our results reveal a large positive association between pandemic-related information and feelings of fear. Additionally, a medium negative correlation between fear and rumor sharing was observed while a moderate positive correlation between fear and rumor refuting was identified. Moreover, we found that individual critical thinking abilities can effectively moderate the relationship between fear and online COVID-19-related information and strengthen the link between fear and rumor sharing while weakening the link between fear and rumor refuting. Additionally, our study indicates that an individual's fear plays a mediating role in the relationship between information sources and rumor behavior. Our findings shed light on the information processing mechanisms underlying rumor behaviors and yield practical and policy implications for managing them.

COVID-19 and telemedicine: A netnography approach

The COVID-19 pandemic has consolidated some trends that already existed in our society. Perhaps one of the most visible is the transformation of society towards greater digitisation. Digitalisation has gained weight in all aspects of our lives, and from the point of view of the health system we find an example in the slow historical adoption of telemedicine, which contrasts sharply with the massive conversion to this technology as a tool for social distancing. In this sense, the homebound population is the one most affected by the pandemic and the one that could benefit the most from the use of telemedicine. Using a netnography approach and based on the stimulus-organism-response paradigm, this study proposes to analyse the evolution of perception about telemedicine using the opinions expressed on Twitter. The primary technical tasks of the study incorporate the analysis of topics and the review of emotions and positive image perception using natural language processing. Specifically, tweets about telemedicine generated by the Spanish community are analysed in this work. The findings show that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected emotions and topics of interest related to telemedicine. This has changed the image that it had and the behaviour of the Twitter community in Spain. In conclusion, the study results suggest that changes in health systems affect people's emotions and behaviours.

Digital and physical factors influencing an individual's preventive behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan: A perspective based on the S-O-R model

COVID-19 has caused considerable stress to individuals and communities. Daily press briefings on public health during the COVID-19 pandemic have increased individuals' feelings of social pressure. Abrupt changes to a person's immediate environment, such as the changes caused by COVID-19, can substantially affect their mental health and cognitive adjustment. On the basis of the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, we examined the effects of digital and physical stimuli related to COVID-19 in Taiwan on individuals' psychological states and preventive behavior, including social distancing and personal hygiene. The data obtained from 498 valid survey questionnaires indicated that digital and physical factors including informativeness, social pressure, and severity exerted direct effects on cognitive assimilation and anxiety, which in turn affected individuals' preventive behavior. Moreover, cognitive assimilation and anxiety had significant mediating effects on the relationships of informativeness, social pressure, and severity with individuals' preventive behavior. The results of this study indicate how digital and physical stimulus factors affect cognitive assimilation and anxiety, which influence preventive behavior during a pandemic.

People with High Perceived Infectability Are More Likely to Spread Rumors in the Context of COVID-19: A Behavioral Immune System Perspective

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, many studies have explored the influencing factors of rumor spreading, such as anxiety, risk perception and information source credibility, but few studies have focused on the impact of individual differences. Based on the theory of behavioral immune systems, we investigated the impact of perceived infectability on rumor spreading and the mediating role of rumor trust in the context of COVID-19. Two studies were investigated using the scale and recall-report task of rumor spreading. The results show that perceived infectability was a significant positive predictor of rumor spreading. However, the impact of perceived infectability on rumor spreading was not direct, and it mainly indirectly affected rumor spreading through the mediating role of rumor trust. Overall, the findings suggest that individuals with high perceived infectability are more likely to believe rumors and then spread rumors during the epidemic. This study advances the literature on rumor spreading and behavioral immune systems and provides practical implications to anti-rumor campaigns.

How local outbreak of COVID-19 affect the risk of internet public opinion: A Chinese social media case study

Motivated by the realistic demand of controlling the Internet public opinion risk caused by the local outbreak of COVID-19, this paper creatively proposes a COVID-19 local outbreak Internet public opinion risk grading research framework. The SMAA-FAHPSort II method combining Analytic Hierarchy Process Sort II (AHPSort II) method with Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis (SMAA-2) method is introduced into this framework, to evaluate the Internet public opinion risk level of social media during the local outbreak of COVID-19. In addition, this framework is applied to a case of Internet public opinion risk evaluation on Microblog platform of China. According to the number of new cases per day in mainland China, this paper divides the period from May 7, 2020 to September 3, 2021 into seven stages. A total of more than 10,000 Microblog hot topics were collected, after screening and preprocessing, 5422 related topics are remained to help complete the Internet public opinion risk evaluation. The case study analysis results show that the number of days classified as moderate risk and above has reached more than 280. This proves that the local outbreak of COVID-19 will indeed increase the risk of Internet public opinion, and correlation analysis confirms that the level of public opinion risk is positively correlated with the severity of the epidemic in the real world. Furthermore, the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed method are verified by comparative analysis and sensitivity analysis. Finally, some effective public opinion management suggestions have been put forward. This paper can provide reference for the government to formulate or improve relevant strategies, and also has great significance for reducing the risk of Internet public opinion in social media.

What Drives People to Share Misinformation on Social Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Stimulus-Organism-Response Perspective

(1) Background: Misinformation is prevalent on social media in the age of COVID-19, exacerbating the threat of the pandemic. Uncovering the processes underlying people's misinformation sharing using social media assists people to cope with misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study extends the stimulus-organism-response framework to examine how individuals' social media dependency relates to their misinformation sharing behavior, with a focus on the underlying processes. (2) Methods: A total of 393 valid questionnaires were collected using a survey method to test the proposed research model. (3) Results: The results demonstrate that informational dependency and social dependency engender both positive and negative cognitive states, namely perceived information timeliness, perceived socialization and social overload, which then invoke positive as well as negative affect. What is more, the results show that both positive affect and negative affect can engender misinformation sharing. (4) Conclusions: Theoretically, this study uncovers the processes that lead to misinformation sharing on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. Practically, this study provides actionable guidelines on how to manage social media usage and social media content to cope with misinformation sharing during the pandemic.

Trust in government buffers the negative effect of rumor exposure on people's emotions

Although we are surrounded by various kinds of rumors during the coronavirus disease pandemic, little is known about their primary content, what effect they might have on our emotions, and the potential factors that may buffer their effect. Combining qualitative (study 1 extracted 1907 rumors from top rumor-refuting websites using the Python Web Crawler and conducted content analysis) and quantitative (study 2 conducted an online survey adopting a three-wave design, N = 444) research methods, the current study revealed that government-related rumors accounted for the largest proportion of rumors during the outbreak stage of the pandemic and were positively associated with the public's negative emotions. We also found that trust in government negatively moderated the relationship between government-related rumors and negative emotions. Specifically, when people had low trust in government, exposure to government-related rumors was positively associated with negative emotions. However, when people had high trust in government, the association was non-significant. For positive emotions, we found no significant effects of government-related rumors. The findings highlight the importance of rumor control during public emergencies and cultivating public trust in government in the long run.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03508-x.

Online information analysis on pancreatic cancer in Korea using structural topic model

Inappropriate information on a deadly and rare disease can make people vulnerable to problematic decisions, leading to irreversible bad outcomes. This study explored online information exchanges on pancreatic cancer. We collected 35,596 questions and 83,888 answers related to pancreatic cancer from January 1, 2003 to May 31, 2020, from Naver, the most popular Korean web portal. We also collected 8495 news articles related to pancreatic cancer during the same period. The study methods employed were structural topic modeling, keyword frequency analysis, and qualitative coding of medical professionals. The number of questions and news articles increased over time. In Naver's questions, topics on symptoms and diagnostic tests regarding pancreatic cancer increased in proportion. The news topics on new technologies related to pancreatic cancer from various companies increased as well. The use of words related to back pain-which is not an important early symptom in pancreatic cancer-and biomarker tests using blood increased over time in Naver's questions. Based on 100 question samples related to symptoms and diagnostic tests and an analysis of the threaded answers' appropriateness, there was considerable misinformation and commercialized information in both categories.

The Effects of Personality Traits on Online Rumor Sharing: The Mediating Role of Fear of COVID-19

This study aims to explore the effects of personality traits on online rumor sharing during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the mediating role of the fear of COVID-19 between them. We conducted this research using a web-based questionnaire distributed to 452 university students who were invited to fill it out. The partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used to test the data and model, with the yielded results demonstrating that three—extroversion, emotional instability, and conscientiousness—of the Big Five personality traits are positively related to a fear of COVID-19, with this fear positively affecting online rumor sharing. Moreover, fear of COVID-19 was found to act as a mediator between personality traits and online rumor sharing; thus, we can conclude that persons with high levels of extroversion, emotional instability, and conscientiousness are more likely to share rumors online due to a fear of COVID-19. This study furthers our understanding of the psychological mechanism by which personality traits influence online rumor sharing and provides references for anti-rumor campaigns taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it identifies key groups and sheds light on the necessity of reducing people’s fear of COVID-19.

The Impact of Government Social Media Information Quality on Public Panic During the Infodemic

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the first global “Infodemic” in the era of social media. Understanding how governments deal with the negative impacts of the infodemic (e.g., public panic) has become a priority. This paper uses the theoretical framework of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to explore mechanisms for alleviating panic associated with the infodemic. It considers, in particular, the quality of information circulated on Government Social Media (GSM) as the central route and local government trust as the peripheral route. An empirical study was conducted using data from a focus group interview and a questionnaire survey collected within the first three weeks following the citywide lockdown of Wuhan, China. The results show that as: (1) Quality of GSM information does not significantly reduce public panic, but local government trust significantly increases people’s pandemic prevention knowledge; (2) Pandemic prevention knowledge is a critical mediator between information quality of GSM and public panic, as well as local government trust and public panic; and (3) Information quality of GSM significantly increases people’s trust in local governments. This paper contributes to the literature on infodemic and government social media and provides implications for practice.

A probabilistic approach toward evaluation of Internet rumor on COVID

Several people around the world have died from the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. With the increase in COVID-19 cases, distribution, and deaths, much has occurred regarding the ban on travel, border closure, curfews, and the disturbance in the supply of services and goods. The world economy was severely affected by the spread of the virus. Every day, new discussions and debates started, and more people were in fear. Occasionally, unconfirmed information is shared on social media sites as if it were accurate information. Sometimes, it becomes viral and disturbs people's emotions and beliefs. Fake news and rumors are widespread forms of unconfirmed and false information. This type of news should be tracked speedily to prevent its negative impact on society. An ideal system is the dire need of modern-day society to evaluate the Internet rumors on COVID. Therefore, the current study has considered a probabilistic approach for evaluating the Internet rumors about COVID. The fuzzy logic tool in MATLAB was used for experimental and simulation purposes. The results revealed the effectiveness of the proposed work.

What Influences Physicians' Online Knowledge Sharing? A Stimulus-Response Perspective

During the COVID-19 pandemic, online health platforms and physicians' online knowledge sharing played an important role in public health crisis management and disease prevention. What influences physicians' online knowledge sharing? From the psychological perspective of stimulus-response, this study aims to explore how patients' visit and patients' consultation influence physicians' online knowledge sharing considering the contingent roles of physicians' online expertise and online knowledge sharing experience. Based on 6-month panel data of 45,449 physician-month observations from an online health platform in China, the results indicate that both patients' visit and patients' consultation are positive related to physicians' online knowledge sharing. Online expertise weakens the positive effect of patients' consultation on physicians' online knowledge sharing. Online knowledge sharing experience weakens the positive relationship between visit of patient and physicians' online knowledge sharing, and enhances the positive relationship between patients' consultation and physicians' online knowledge sharing. This study contributes to the literatures about stimulus-response in psychology and knowledge sharing, and provides implications for practice.