Source Credibility and the Information Quality Matter in Public Engagement on Social Networking Sites During the COVID-19 Crisis

Abstract

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, people use social networking sites (SNSs) to seek social support, ease the move toward the social distance, and communicate and engage with one another. However, there is growing evidence that trustworthiness and quality of information can affect individuals’ online engagement behaviors. This study proposes a theoretical model to test people’s online engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic by applying the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Through a questionnaire survey of 630 SNS users, the study examines whether and how source credibility and information quality affect people’s online engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The model was tested using structural equation modeling. The findings show that source credibility and information quality have a significantly positive relationship with perceived benefit, while negative and significantly associated with perceived risk. Furthermore, perceived benefit is a stronger predictor of online public engagement than the perceived risk. To improve online public engagement as a crisis response strategy, careful source selection and careful generation of online crisis information should not be overlooked.

A scoping review: Inquiring into the potency of response source credibility (RSC) towards enhancing crisis response strategies

“…Although the SCCT theory is commonly utilized in crisis communication research, it has been revealed by scholars that it possesses constraints in assessing the variables that could affect the reputation of an organization Jamal & Abu Bakar, 2017a;Jiang et al, 2016;Ndlela & Ndlela, 2019;Shah & Wei, 2022). Organizational RSC in times of crisis can influence the overall effectiveness and efficacy of crisis response strategies, which will positively protect the reputation during a crisis (Lim & Brown-Devlin, 2021).…”

“…The Crisis response strategies in the SCCT have four dimensions: denial, diminishing, rebuilding and bolstering response strategies (Coombs, 2007a). RSC can intensify the relationships between crisis response strategies (Dominic et al, 2023;Jamal & Abu Bakar, 2017a;Shah & Wei, 2022;Tkalac Verčič et al, 2019) and protects organizational reputations (see Figure 2).…”

“…This concept has not been given full attention in crisis communication research. RSC can have a significant impact on the receiveability and believability of the crisis response strategies used by organizations during a crisis (Shah & Wei, 2022). The perceived credibility of the response source will either strengthen or worsen an organizational reputation (Zhang et al, 2019).…”

“…According to previous studies, there is growing evidence that trustworthiness is a fundamental factor that affects stakeholders' response engagement behaviours in a crisis (e.g., Shah & Wei, 2022). A high-quality crisis response engagement comes from a verified or trustworthy response source.…”

“…From the findings, the concept of RSC impacts the reason stakeholders believe in the crisis response strategies, as well as how they process and perceive the message(Tkalac Verčič et al, 2019). Crisis response only becomes effective when it is believable, applicable and protects reputation.Consequently,Shah and Wei (2022) revealed that source credibility significantly impacts (crisis response strategy) information quality and upholds reputation during a crisis. On the contrary,Haigh and Brubaker (2010) argued that the crisis response strategy used by an organization in crisis impacts the credibility of the source cited in the crisis response message.…”