The Cognitive Mediation Model: Factors Influencing Public Knowledge of the H1N1 Pandemic and Intention to Take Precautionary Behaviors

Abstract

This study uses the cognitive mediation model as the theoretical framework to examine the influence of motivations, communication, and news elaboration on public knowledge of the H1N1 pandemic and the intention to take precautionary behaviors in Singapore. Using a nationally representative random digit dialing telephone survey of 1,055 adult Singaporeans, the authors' results show that the cognitive mediation model can be applied to health contexts, in which motivations (surveillance gratification, guidance, and need for cognition) were positively associated with news attention, elaboration, and interpersonal communication. News attention, elaboration, and interpersonal communication in turn positively influence public knowledge about the H1N1 influenza. In addition, results show that the motivations have significant indirect effects on behavioral intentions, as partially mediated by communication (media attention and interpersonal communication), elaboration, and knowledge. The authors conclude that the cognitive mediation model can be extended to behavioral outcomes, above and beyond knowledge. Implications for theory and practice for health communication were discussed.

The Augmented Cognitive Mediation Model: Examining Antecedents of Factual and Structural Breast Cancer Knowledge Among Singaporean Women

“…As women engaged in conversations, they would learn new associations between breast cancer and health concepts. Even though the nonsignificant relationship with factual knowledge runs counter to past findings (e.g., Ho et al, 2013), it suggests that women may turn to interpersonal networks more for social support than for content. Elaboration was positively associated with both knowledge dimensions Eveland & Thomson, 2006;.…”

“…The media makes salient certain issues, and as individuals pay attention to media content, the level of attention is associated with active cerebral processing of the information (Eveland, 2001;Ho et al, 2013). We postulate that attention to both online and offline media platforms will be associated with women's engagement in elaborative processing, as past studies have found support for these relationships (Eveland, Cortese, et al, 2004;Rimer & Glassman, 1999).…”

“…Second, although prominent health theories have highlighted the role of risk perception as a motivator of health protection behaviors, few have explicitly tested whether risk is related to information seeking and eventual health knowledge acquisition within the CMM framework. Third, media attention, which is a key variable in the CMM, has often been operationalized as a unidimensional construct (e.g., Ho et al, 2013;Jensen, 2011). Yet there could be qualitative differences in how attention to content on different media platforms might be associated with different knowledge outcomes (Eveland, Cortese, Park, & Dunwoody, 2004).…”

“…Recent works have examined the role of other motivational gratification variables such as guidance gratification, anticipated interaction, and need for cognition (e.g., Beaudoin & Thorson, 2004;Ho et al, 2013). Despite these theoretical extensions, there are other forms of motivation variables that the original model did not account for.…”

“…Past studies have also demonstrated that the more individuals engage in elaboration, the more factual and structural knowledge they will gain (Eveland, Cortese, et al, 2004;Ho et al, 2013). When individuals make connections between new information and what they already know, the greatest learning effect takes place .…”