How the Health Rumor Misleads People’s Perception in a Public Health Emergency: Lessons from a Purchase Craze during the COVID-19 Outbreak in China

Liwei Zhang, Kelin Chen, He Jiang and Ji Zhao
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Liwei Zhang: School of Public Administration, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China
Kelin Chen: Institute of Urban Governance, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
He Jiang: Department of Social Psychology, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
Ji Zhao: School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-15

Abstract: Health rumors often mislead people and cause adverse health behaviors. Especially during a public health emergency, health rumors may result in severe consequences for people’s health and risk governance. Insight into how these rumors form and harm people’s health behavior is critical for assisting people in establishing scientific health cognition and to enhance public health emergency responses. Using the case study with interview data of a salient purchase craze led by a health rumor during the COVID-19 outbreak in China, this article aimed to illustrate the process of how a piece of information becomes a health rumor. Furthermore, we identify factors that cause people to believe rumors and conduct behavior that leads to a purchase craze. Results show that a public misunderstanding of the unique psychology of uncertainty, cultural and social cognition, and conformity behavior jointly informs people’s beliefs in rumors and further causes purchase craze behavior. We developed a simplified model to demonstrate how an ordinary news report can lead to a rumor. Based on this model, some implications of effective health communication are suggested for managing rumors.

Keywords: health rumor; health perception; health communication; public health emergency; risk governance; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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