Understanding online information avoidance behavior during a crisis

Online information avoidance is a behavior of delaying or rejecting information consumption from online sources. It is an understudied construct in information systems research; however, information avoidance is studied extensively in economics, psychology, health, and media disciplines. Economists argue that rational agents avoid information when they feel it is detrimental to their economic outcome (Golman et al., 2017; Gul, 1991). Psychologists identify different predictors of information avoidance behavior, such as individual differences, motivations, and situation factors (Sweeny et al., 2010). Health information researchers also identify different psychological factors as predictors of information avoidance behavior, particularly in terminal diseases such as cancer (Miles et al., 2008). Crisis literature suggests that people receive information from different sources in such unprecedented times, and online platforms have become one of the dominant sources. Crisis information from different online sources provides different psychological stimuli, shaping people's perceptions and behaviors in a crisis (Savage, 2020). While prior studies provide explanations of individual information avoidance behavior, there is not much attempt to identify how these findings relate to online information avoidance in a crisis. To understand the online information avoidance behavior in a crisis, we investigate online information avoidance in two different crises: a health crisis and a humanitarian crisis. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as the health crisis, essay one investigates how individuals' fear and situational motivation impact online information avoidance. Using the self determination and information avoidance theories, we argue that fear and situational motivation constructs impact online information avoidance through response efficacy, optimism, and coping self-efficacy. From a pooled cross-sectional survey study, we find that fear and external regulation increase online information avoidance, whereas identified regulation is a significant inhibitor of online information avoidance. We also find that response efficacy, optimism, and coping self-efficacy mediate the relationship. Our robustness analysis using Important Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) robustness checks support these results. Information sources often take a partisan position during a humanitarian crisis such as the Russia-Ukraine war. In that scenario, individuals with a need to consume information framed in a neutral way or individuals with a partisan view may not find information that matches their worldview. This deviation is referred to as expectation violation in communication and media research. Extant literature explains how information consumer's expectation violation can impact objectivity and trust; however, how these relationships will hold in a humanitarian crisis and how these mechanisms lead to online information avoidance are major research questions. Using expectation violation, objectivity, and trust theories, essay two argues that violation expectedness, source importance, and valence will impact online information avoidance through the mediation of perceived objectivity and source trust. We have generated interesting insights from a multi-country survey study based in Poland and the United States. In Poland, violation expectedness increases online information avoidance significantly, and the importance of the relationship with the information source is a significant inhibitor of online information avoidance. Moreover, both trust and perceived objectivity mediate the relationship. In the USA, source importance and valence are important inhibitors of online information avoidance. However, only trust mediates the relationships. Our IPMA and ANN robustness analyses support these results. While focusing on two different contexts, our studies contribute to the broader information systems research literature and specifically to the information avoidance literature during a crisis. Our study contributes to the literature by introducing online information avoidance as a vital outcome behavior after people are exposed to a myriad of information during a crisis. At a practical level, our studies’ findings will be helpful for online information providers, governments, response organizations, and communities who utilize online platforms, forums, and related outlets to reach larger audiences for disseminating pertinent information and recommendations during a crisis