Does COVID-19 Message Fatigue Lead to Misinformation Acceptance? An Extension of the Risk Information Seeking and Processing Model

ABSTRACT

Based on the Risk Information Seeking and Processing Model, the present study examines whether COVID-19 message fatigue leads to greater information avoidance and heuristic processing, and consequently greater acceptance of misinformation. We conducted a survey of 821 Korean adults regarding their information seeking and processing regarding COVID-19 vaccination. Results of SEM analyses showed that COVID-19 message fatigue was (a) negatively related to information insufficiency and (b) positively related to information avoidance and heuristic processing. Information avoidance and heuristic processing were subsequently related to greater levels of misinformation acceptance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Statements that featured true information were as follows: “One should get vaccinated for COVID-19 even if one has cardiovascular diseases,” “About half of U.S. adults got vaccinated for COVID-19 at least once,” “AstraZeneca did not gain U.S. FDA approval for its COVID-19 vaccine,” and “Travelers to Guam must self-quarantine if they are vaccinated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.” Study participants’ responses to the four true information statements were averaged (M = 2.64, SD = .62). As supplementary analysis, we tested a model predicting individuals’ acceptance of true information with the same predictors as the model predicting acceptance of misinformation. Results of SEM analysis showed that, while the model predicting true information acceptance exhibited a comparable fit to the model predicting misinformation acceptance, χ²(644) = 2298.58, p < .001, CFI =.90, SRMR =.11, RMSEA =.06 (.05, .06), the path from avoidance (β = −.09, p = .14) and heuristic processing (β = .15, p = .16) to true information acceptance were nonsignificant.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the School of Media and Communication at Korea University. This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea [NRF-2019S1A5A2A01045465].