Searching Online for Information About Vaccination: Assessing the Influence of User-Specific Cognitive Factors Using Eye-Tracking

ABSTRACT

In Germany, the Internet is gaining increasing importance for laypeople as a source of health information, including information about vaccination. While previous research has focused on the characteristics of online information about vaccination, this study investigated the influence of relevant user-specific cognitive factors on users’ search behavior for online information about vaccination. Additionally, it examined how searching online for information about vaccination influences users’ attitudes toward vaccination. We conducted an experimental study with 56 undergraduate students from a German university that consisted of a survey and eye-tracking while browsing the Internet, followed by a content analysis of the eye-tracking data. The results show that the users exposed themselves to balanced and diverse online information about vaccination. However, none of the examined cognitive factors (attitude toward vaccination, attitude salience, prior knowledge about vaccination, need for cognition, and cognitive involvement) influenced the amount of time users spent searching the Internet for information about vaccination. Our study was not able to document any effects of attitude-consistent selective exposure to online information about vaccination. In addition, we found no effect on attitude change after having searched the Internet for vaccine-related information. Thus, users’ search behavior regarding vaccination seems to be relatively stable.

Notes

¹ Statements linking vaccination with specific adverse reactions, especially idiopathic chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis, autism, and diabetes, characterize vaccine-critical websites (Zimmerman et al., 2005). Anti-vaccination proponents often state postmodern arguments that reject biomedical and scientific facts in favor of their own interpretations on anti-vaccination websites (Bean, 2011; Kata, 2010).

² In the calibration phase, the correct focus of the participants’ eyes was measured at nine points. For each participant, the data was in an acceptable range (derivation x: M = 0.50; SD = 0.19; derivation y: M = 0.48; SD = 0.19).

³ Research findings have suggested that those who are more highly skilled with the Internet are more likely to use it for health information seeking (Dobransky & Hargittai, 2012; Percheski & Hargittai, 2011). Percheski and Hargittai (2011) emphasized that students with higher-level Internet skills will be more capable of finding relevant information, which makes the Internet a more desirable source of health information for them.

⁴ Jang (2014) explained this finding as follows: “As news stories about controversial science issues often describe potential risks and threats, novel findings, or unexpected occurrences, individuals’ surveillance motive is likely to come into operation, making them attend to incongruent rather than congruent science information” (p. 161).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sabrina Heike Kessler

Sabrina Heike Kessler, born 1986, received her Master in Media studies, Psychology, and German Linguistics in 2011 at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. 2015 doctorate at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. Currently senior research and teaching associate at the Department of Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich. Research interests: science and health communication; search-, selection-, and perception processes of Internet users; persuasion research; and methods of media reception.

Arne Freya Zillich

Arne Freya Zillich, born 1980, received her Master in Media studies, Psychology and Political Science in 2006 at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. 2012 doctorate at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. Currently postdoctoral research associate at the Institute of Communication Research at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. Research interests: Media use and effects, selective exposure, norms of users in online communication, and methods of media reception.