The extent of and motivation for disaster information seeking behavior via social networking sites

Abstract

This study adopts a research model founded on multiple theories to investigate potential influence of source credibility (SC), argument quality (AQ), self-efficacy (SEF), tolerance of ambiguity (TA), locus of control (LOC), and perceived usefulness of information (PUI) on individuals’ information-seeking behavior (ISB) of disaster information from social networking sites (SNSs). The structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis of 312 global responses reveals that, overall, individuals infrequently seek behavior about disaster information from SNSs. In addition, the source and content quality (SAQ) and SEF that emerge are significant antecedents of PUI, which in turn is a significant determinant of ISB. These findings and their implications are further discussed in the paper.

Keywords:

• Information-seeking behavior
• disaster
• social networking sites
• perceived usefulness of information
• source credibility
• argument quality
• self-efficacy
• locus of control
• tolerance of ambiguity

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.