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ABSTRACT
Based on data from a Qualtrics panel, this study examines Chinese citizens’ motivations for information seeking about air pollution. Results from structural equation modelling indicate that information insufficiency, negative affect, attitudes toward seeking, and perceived information gathering capacity are positively related to information seeking. Informational subjective norms, however, were not significantly related to information seeking. Further, participants with more knowledge and higher risk perception were more likely to desire more information about air pollution. These results suggest that communication campaigns should highlight individuals’ personal risks and self-efficacy to encourage greater information seeking about air pollution among Chinese citizens. Emotional appeal may serve as an effective strategy as well.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Current knowledge and information sufficiency threshold correlate at r = .52, p < .001, which is expected because they measure the same latent construct. Other than this correlation, the only exogenous variables that are moderately correlated are informational subjective norms and perceived information gathering capacity (r = .66, p < .001). Thus, multicollinearity is unlikely to be a significant issue.
2 Ethnicity was not controlled because the sample was almost entirely Han Chinese.