TY - JOUR
T1 - Individualism, economic development, and democracy as determinants of COVID-19 risk information on 132 government websites
AU - Tsai, Jiun Yi
AU - Shih, Tsung Jen
AU - Tsai, Tien I.
AU - Lee, Shao Man
AU - Liang, Chih Ming
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - Little is known about how governments transparently communicate about COVID-19. This study conducted a content analysis of 132 government COVID-19 websites to identify the salience of health messages (i.e., perceived threat, perceived efficacy, and perceived resilience) and cross-national determinants of information provision. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the relationship between country-level predictors (i.e., economic development, democracy scores, and individualism index) and information salience. The numbers of deaths, discharged patients, and daily new cases were prevalent on the main webpages. Subpages provided information about vulnerability statistics, government responses, and vaccination rates. Less than 10% of governments included messages that may instill self-efficacy. Democratic countries had higher chances of providing threat statistics on subpages, including daily new cases (Relative Risk Ratio, RRR = 1.66, 95% CI: 1.16–2.37), mortalities (RRR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.23–2.33), hospitalizations (RRR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.12–2.37), and positivity rates (RRR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.07–2.23). On subpages, democratic governments emphasized information about perceived vulnerability (RRR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.50–3.73), perceived response efficacy (RRR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.06–2.06), recovery numbers (RRR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.31–2.60), and vaccinations (RRR = 2.14, 95% CI: 1.39–3.30). Developed countries reported the number of daily new cases, perceived response efficacy, and vaccination rates on their COVID-19 main pages. Individualism scores predicted the salience of vaccination rates on main pages and the omission of information related to perceived severity and perceived vulnerability. Democracy levels were more predictive of reporting information about perceived severity, perceived response efficacy, and perceived resilience on subpages of dedicated websites. Improving public health agencies’ communication about COVID-19 is warranted.
AB - Little is known about how governments transparently communicate about COVID-19. This study conducted a content analysis of 132 government COVID-19 websites to identify the salience of health messages (i.e., perceived threat, perceived efficacy, and perceived resilience) and cross-national determinants of information provision. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the relationship between country-level predictors (i.e., economic development, democracy scores, and individualism index) and information salience. The numbers of deaths, discharged patients, and daily new cases were prevalent on the main webpages. Subpages provided information about vulnerability statistics, government responses, and vaccination rates. Less than 10% of governments included messages that may instill self-efficacy. Democratic countries had higher chances of providing threat statistics on subpages, including daily new cases (Relative Risk Ratio, RRR = 1.66, 95% CI: 1.16–2.37), mortalities (RRR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.23–2.33), hospitalizations (RRR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.12–2.37), and positivity rates (RRR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.07–2.23). On subpages, democratic governments emphasized information about perceived vulnerability (RRR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.50–3.73), perceived response efficacy (RRR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.06–2.06), recovery numbers (RRR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.31–2.60), and vaccinations (RRR = 2.14, 95% CI: 1.39–3.30). Developed countries reported the number of daily new cases, perceived response efficacy, and vaccination rates on their COVID-19 main pages. Individualism scores predicted the salience of vaccination rates on main pages and the omission of information related to perceived severity and perceived vulnerability. Democracy levels were more predictive of reporting information about perceived severity, perceived response efficacy, and perceived resilience on subpages of dedicated websites. Improving public health agencies’ communication about COVID-19 is warranted.
KW - Content analysis
KW - COVID-19
KW - Disease prevention
KW - Government communication
KW - Individualism
KW - Public health messages
KW - Risk communication
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85159694924&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85159694924&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102242
DO - 10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102242
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85159694924
SN - 2211-3355
VL - 34
JO - Preventive Medicine Reports
JF - Preventive Medicine Reports
M1 - 102242
ER -
