The influence of psychological language words contained in microblogs on dissemination behaviour in emergency situations – mediating effects of emotional responses

Abstract

Individuals' psychological processes during emergencies are critical to the understanding of social media user reactions. However, previous studies have paid little attention to the influence of psychological processes on information dissemination behaviours. To provide authorities with a better understanding of dissemination behaviours from the perspective of psychological language use, we used the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-OR) and dual-process models to analyze the effect of words expressing severity and susceptibility on the dissemination behaviours of Weibo users during the avian influenza epidemic. We also explored the mediating effects of emotional responses on the relationship between cognitive responses and dissemination behaviours. The results show that words expressing severity and susceptibility significantly affected the cognitive and emotional responses of users. Weibo user perception and cognition, positive and negative emotions significantly and positively affected their dissemination behaviours. Positive and negative emotions played a partial mediating role in perception responses, cognitive responses, and dissemination behaviours. These findings may assist governments or emergency management departments to effectively control and guide public opinion.

Factors affecting individual online rumor sharing behavior in the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Originating from environmental psychology, the S–O-R framework indicates that environmental factors act as stimuli to influence internal cognitions and affections, and finally compel behavioral responses ( Cao & Sun, 2018 ; Mehrabian & Russell, 1974 ). The S–O-R framework has been widely applied in social media to explore individual online behaviors, for example, social commerce intention and discontinuous intention of social media users ( Cao & Sun, 2018 ; Lu et al, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2014 ). In addition, Pal et al (2020) investigated online rumor rebuttals by using the S–O-R framework.…”

“…Prior studies successfully adopted the S–O-R framework to explain customers’ patronage intention and social commerce intention ( Jeong et al, 2009 ; Zhang et al, 2014 ). The framework also has been used to explore how psychological language words contained in microblogs influence dissemination behavior in emergency situations ( Lu et al, 2021 ). Recently, Pal et al (2020) applied the S–O-R framework to investigate how perceived message properties affect perceived utilitarian and hedonic values, and then determine online rumor rebuttal acceptance.…”

What Drives People to Share Misinformation on Social Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Stimulus-Organism-Response Perspective

“…Second, by highlighting individuals’ psychological processes in reaction to environmental stimuli, this framework goes beyond rationality assumption and explains individuals’ information dissemination behavior in the context of COVID-19, where behavior is usually driven by emotions and is not entirely rational. Third, the organism component in the S-O-R model emphasizes both positive and negative orientations toward specific stimuli [ 29 ], lending itself to be effective in understanding individuals’ different psychological reactions in response to environmental stimuli from social media usage.…”

The Influence of Cognitive and Emotional Factors on Social Media Users’ Information-Sharing Behaviours during Crises: The Moderating Role of the Construal Level and the Mediating Role of the Emotional Response

“…In crises such as earthquakes, floods, fires, and other emergencies, due to the urgency of time, the severity of events, the unpredictability of the consequences, and other characteristics, people have different psychological processes [ 1 ]. Social media such as Weibo and WeChat provide people with more space for discourse and a place to express opinions and exchange views.…”