Can Press Freedom Enhance the Effect of News Exposure on COVID-19 Health Beliefs? A Health Belief Model Perspective

Zhang Hao Goh; Edson C. Tandoc Jr.; Charles Thomas Salmon; Hye Kyung Kim; Jingyuan Shi

doi:10.1080/10410236.2022.2056981

Can Press Freedom Enhance the Effect of News Exposure on COVID-19 Health Beliefs? A Health Belief Model Perspective

Zhang Hao Goh^*, Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Charles Thomas Salmon, Hye Kyung Kim, Jingyuan Shi

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Communication Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

News media can influence citizens’ health beliefs about COVID-19 and eventually their vaccination intention. However, existing literature has rarely investigated how such effect is contingent upon a country-level factor: press freedom. Situated in the Health Belief Model, this study draws upon a multi-national survey (N = 3,599), involving 10 major cities in Asia to address the research gap. Results showed that news exposure has a positive effect on personal health beliefs on COVID-19, affecting their vaccination intention. More interestingly, the relationship between news exposure and personal health beliefs about COVID-19 was negatively moderated by level of press freedom – that is, the relationship between news exposure and personal health beliefs is stronger in cities that belong to countries with low levels of press freedom.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2158-2166
Number of pages	9
Journal	Health Communication
Volume	38
Issue number	10
Early online date	6 Apr 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2022.2056981
Publication status	Published - 24 Aug 2023

Scopus Subject Areas

Health(social science)
Communication

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1080/10410236.2022.2056981

Cite this

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title = "Can Press Freedom Enhance the Effect of News Exposure on COVID-19 Health Beliefs? A Health Belief Model Perspective",

abstract = "News media can influence citizens{\textquoteright} health beliefs about COVID-19 and eventually their vaccination intention. However, existing literature has rarely investigated how such effect is contingent upon a country-level factor: press freedom. Situated in the Health Belief Model, this study draws upon a multi-national survey (N = 3,599), involving 10 major cities in Asia to address the research gap. Results showed that news exposure has a positive effect on personal health beliefs on COVID-19, affecting their vaccination intention. More interestingly, the relationship between news exposure and personal health beliefs about COVID-19 was negatively moderated by level of press freedom – that is, the relationship between news exposure and personal health beliefs is stronger in cities that belong to countries with low levels of press freedom.",

author = "Goh, {Zhang Hao} and {Tandoc Jr.}, {Edson C.} and Salmon, {Charles Thomas} and Kim, {Hye Kyung} and Jingyuan Shi",

note = "Funding information: This research was funded by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Publisher copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ",

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doi = "10.1080/10410236.2022.2056981",

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AU - Salmon, Charles Thomas

AU - Kim, Hye Kyung

AU - Shi , Jingyuan

PY - 2023/8/24

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N2 - News media can influence citizens’ health beliefs about COVID-19 and eventually their vaccination intention. However, existing literature has rarely investigated how such effect is contingent upon a country-level factor: press freedom. Situated in the Health Belief Model, this study draws upon a multi-national survey (N = 3,599), involving 10 major cities in Asia to address the research gap. Results showed that news exposure has a positive effect on personal health beliefs on COVID-19, affecting their vaccination intention. More interestingly, the relationship between news exposure and personal health beliefs about COVID-19 was negatively moderated by level of press freedom – that is, the relationship between news exposure and personal health beliefs is stronger in cities that belong to countries with low levels of press freedom.

AB - News media can influence citizens’ health beliefs about COVID-19 and eventually their vaccination intention. However, existing literature has rarely investigated how such effect is contingent upon a country-level factor: press freedom. Situated in the Health Belief Model, this study draws upon a multi-national survey (N = 3,599), involving 10 major cities in Asia to address the research gap. Results showed that news exposure has a positive effect on personal health beliefs on COVID-19, affecting their vaccination intention. More interestingly, the relationship between news exposure and personal health beliefs about COVID-19 was negatively moderated by level of press freedom – that is, the relationship between news exposure and personal health beliefs is stronger in cities that belong to countries with low levels of press freedom.

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Can Press Freedom Enhance the Effect of News Exposure on COVID-19 Health Beliefs? A Health Belief Model Perspective

Abstract

Scopus Subject Areas

UN SDGs

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