Social Media as Risk-Attenuation and Misinformation-Amplification Station: How Social Media Interaction Affects Misperceptions about COVID-19

Residents’ Support for Tourism Amidst the COVID-19 Era: An Application of Social Amplification of Risk Framework and Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Theory

“…Residents’ social media use significantly predicted their support for tourism (H2), attitudes to tourism (H3) and attitudes to tourists (H4), echoing similar findings in the previous literature [ 32 , 34 , 35 , 38 , 39 , 66 ]. However, residents’ social media use has no significant correlation with their risk perception of COVID-19, which contradicted with what the SARF has contended and conflicted with the findings of some previous studies [ 21 , 22 , 23 ]. The lack of support for H1 may be explained by the fact that the SARF depicts risk that could be amplified or attenuated in the process of transferring risk information [ 20 ] and no clear-cut criteria could be applied to differentiate attenuation from amplification [ 19 ].…”

“…During the transfer of risk information, media serves as amplification or attenuation stations to form individuals’ awareness of events [ 29 ]. In the extant literature, the SARF was primarily concerned with the role of traditional media during the pre-internet period [ 22 , 23 ]. As the internet and social media have become more prevalent, this new way of seeking and sharing information has dramatically changed people’s life.…”

“…Compared with traditional media, social media works in different ways to influence public opinion [ 30 ]. However, research on social media as amplification or attenuation stations and its influence on individuals’ behavioural reactions amidst the COVID-19 era remains scarce [ 22 ]. As this study focuses on the reactions of message receivers (i.e., residents) to risk information (i.e., COVID-19 information) delivered through amplification or attenuation stations (i.e., social media), SARF theory is considered to be a suitable theoretical framework [ 23 ].…”

“…With an investigation in the extremely low-lying Maldives, Shakeela and Becken [ 33 ] found that climate change risks were amplified via international media but attenuated through national media for international audiences. Furthermore, a survey of 679 US citizens revealed that their social media interaction about COVID-19 was significantly related to their risk perception of COVID-19 [ 22 ]. In Wuhan City (China), Zhong et al [ 34 ] reported that social media usage among residents was positively related to their health behaviour change.…”

“…However, ‘tourism research grounded in SARF has been limited in scope and is sparse’ (p. 449) [ 21 ]. The SARF’s original emphasis was on the role of traditional media (e.g., television, radio and newspapers) in previous literature, but its theoretical framework has been proven helpful in understanding how social media use (SMU) influences RP [ 22 ]. Although SMU has greatly changed how individuals seek and share information, research on these new sources of information is still scarce [ 23 ].…”