The motivations and uses of mainstream and social media during the COVID-19 pandemic in China: A structural equation modeling approach

Public health emergencies often prompt individuals to use a variety of communication channels for various needs. The COVID-19 pandemic imposed an extreme case of lockdown in China and limited many Chinese's activities to what they could do in their homes. Understanding the public's motivations to use both mainstream media and alternative media (e.g., social media) can help better serve the public during a public health emergency. Based on an online survey of 528 participants, conducted in China in April 2020, the present investigation revealed that the participants had stronger information-seeking and surveillance motivations to use mainstream media than alternative media. There were small, nonsignificant differences between other motivations to use mainstream media and social media (i.e., emotion management, expressive motivation, and social interaction/community motivation). Participants had stronger credibility-based attitudes toward mainstream media than toward alternative media. Among these motivations, the information-seeking motivations to use mainstream media and alternative media were the strongest predictor of their respective attitudes toward mainstream media and alternative media. Further results show that both types of media use can be predicted by other motivations (e.g., social interaction and emotion management), instead of their attitudes toward the media, and can be mindless and habitual.