Of seekers and nonseekers: Characteristics of Covid-19-related information-seeking behaviors

Abstract

During health crises like the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, it is crucial that individuals are able and willing to adequately respond to information. Individuals who deliberately seek information have an enhanced capacity to act on it and are capable of informed assessments of risks and self-protective behaviors. In contrast, overexposure to Covid-19 news as well as non-seeking can constitute information-related inequalities and hamper individuals' coping with the health crisis. Having this global health communication challenge in mind, our research aims to understand what characterizes non-, medium, and frequent seekers, considering sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors, health status, affective risk responses, efficacy assessments, trust in information sources, and satisfaction with information. This study is based on data of the second wave of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) Germany. Among 2602 participants, analysis revealed that 23.3% of the respondents did not actively seek information about Covid-19, while 34.3% of them intensively monitored information. Nonseekers, compared to medium and frequent seekers, were characterized by a lower socioeconomic status, lower affective risk responses, lower perceived information-related self-efficacy, and lower trust in information sources. These findings provide indications for strategic health approaches and can guide initiatives to address adequate use of health information.