TY - JOUR
T1 - Fear of Zika
T2 - Information Seeking as Cause and Consequence
AU - Dillard, James Price
AU - Li, Ruobing
AU - Yang, Chun
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - This study examined the relationship between information seeking and fear during the Zika-induced global health crisis. A longitudinal survey of women in the Southern U.S. (N = 306) was conducted in 2016, beginning just days after the World Health Organization declared Zika a global crisis. The data showed that time 1 fear stimulated information seeking at time 2 and that time 2 information seeking caused fear at time 3. This pattern held regardless of whether participants were pregnant or planning to become pregnant (high personal relevance) versus neither (low personal relevance). The findings are at odds with most theories of fear appeals and only partially supportive of contemporary models of information seeking. From an applied standpoint, the results suggest (a) that information seeking should not be assumed to produce uniformly attractive outcomes and (b) that, during a disease crisis, health agencies should anticipate proactive behaviors by members of the public and plan accordingly.
AB - This study examined the relationship between information seeking and fear during the Zika-induced global health crisis. A longitudinal survey of women in the Southern U.S. (N = 306) was conducted in 2016, beginning just days after the World Health Organization declared Zika a global crisis. The data showed that time 1 fear stimulated information seeking at time 2 and that time 2 information seeking caused fear at time 3. This pattern held regardless of whether participants were pregnant or planning to become pregnant (high personal relevance) versus neither (low personal relevance). The findings are at odds with most theories of fear appeals and only partially supportive of contemporary models of information seeking. From an applied standpoint, the results suggest (a) that information seeking should not be assumed to produce uniformly attractive outcomes and (b) that, during a disease crisis, health agencies should anticipate proactive behaviors by members of the public and plan accordingly.
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U2 - 10.1080/10410236.2020.1794554
DO - 10.1080/10410236.2020.1794554
M3 - Article
C2 - 32757627
AN - SCOPUS:85089016941
VL - 36
SP - 1785
EP - 1795
JO - Health Communication
JF - Health Communication
SN - 1041-0236
IS - 13
ER -