Linking Health Information Seeking to Behavioral Outcomes: Antecedents and Outcomes of Childhood Vaccination Information Seeking in South Korea

Abstract

Although research on health information has made significant progress in identifying the antecedents of individuals’ information-seeking behavior in the context of the United States, the results have not been generalizable to the contexts of many other countries. Moreover, little is known about how one's information-seeking behavior is connected to actual behavioral outcomes relevant to the search action. The authors conducted an online survey with a stratified random sample of 1,004 mothers to examine the applicability of the comprehensive model of health information seeking in predicting the use of diverse childhood vaccination information sources in South Korea, and to investigate associations between the mothers’ engagement with specific vaccine information sources and behavioral intention to immunize their children. Findings indicated that the hierarchical structure and the role of predictors within the comprehensive model of health information seeking provided a valid framework in the context of vaccine information seeking in Korea. In addition, the authors found negative associations between the use of certain types of information sources and mothers’ intention to vaccinate. This suggests that the dissemination of critical health information through a variety of available sources does not automatically lead to prudent behavioral decisions when the specific characteristics of the different sources are not considered.

Notes

¹Brashers and colleagues pointed out that people are not always motivated to gain more information to decrease uncertainty surrounding a health issue, as they tend to adjust their information seeking to the level of uncertainty they can tolerate (Brashers, 2001; Brashers, Goldsmith, & Hsieh, 2002; Brashers, Neidig, & Goldsmith, 2004).

²The Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's standard immunization schedule recommends that the sixth dose of DTap and the fifth dose of Japanese encephalitis vaccine be administered before the age of twelve, whereas most of other recommended vaccinations—including four doses of diphtheria, tetanus toxoids, and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP); three doses of HepB; three doses of Polio; and one dose of MMR—are expected to be complete before the age of six.