Communication Factors Influencing Behavioral Intention of Prevention and Community Engagement during COVID-19 in the United States
Communication Factors Influencing Behavioral Intention of Prevention and Community Engagement during COVID-19 in the United States

Summary/Abstract: This study examined how internal (uncertainty, susceptibility, severity, anxiety, and fear) and external motivators (descriptive norms, parasocial interaction, and identification) account for information seeking, message reception, and behavioral intention of COVID-19 prevention and community engagement. A total of 500 US adults’ responses were collected and analyzed. Results found that both internal and external motivators positively predicted COVID-19 information seeking. External motivators were significantly related to message reception, whereas internal motivators were not. The results imply that external motivators and self-efficacy interacting with internal motivators can be catalysts for the behavioral intention of COVID-19 prevention and community engagement. Study results suggest that emphasizing social influence and public figures’ messages in health campaigns may be effective communication strategies for COVID-19 prevention and community engagement.

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