Social Media Exposure and Preventive Behaviors against COVID-19 in Pakistan

COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic since March 2020. Pakistan has become the 20th most-affected country from the virus by May 2020. The only perfect cure from the virus is to take preventive measures from getting affected. Dissemination and exchange of information play a significant role in letting the public know about those measures. This study attempts to explore how social media exposure could influence the adoption of preventive measures by taking into account the roles of self-relevant emotions, belief on conspiracy beliefs, and trust in the measures taken by the government. The sample (n=378) was collected from public and private universities (two each) of Pakistan. Hierarchal regression was used to measure the relationship between the variables. The results showed that self-relevant emotions have been triggered from the information available on social media which further enhanced the adoption of preventive measures. Also, trust in government is an important factor in deciding whether the preventive measures would be taken or not. The findings also suggest that the conspiracy beliefs related to COVID-19 are a significant predictor of less preventive behaviors among the public. Practical implications of self-relevant emotions and trust in government have also been discussed regarding the public health crisis. &nbsp