Source Credibility and the Information Quality Matter in Public Engagement on Social Networking Sites During the COVID-19 Crisis

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, people use social networking sites (SNSs) to seek social support, ease the move toward the social distance, and communicate and engage with one another. However, there is growing evidence that trustworthiness and quality of information can affect individuals’ online engagement behaviors. This study proposes a theoretical model to test people’s online engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic by applying the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Through a questionnaire survey of 630 SNS users, the study examines whether and how source credibility and information quality affect people’s online engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The model was tested using structural equation modeling. The findings show that source credibility and information quality have a significantly positive relationship with perceived benefit, while negative and significantly associated with perceived risk. Furthermore, perceived benefit is a stronger predictor of online public engagement than the perceived risk. To improve online public engagement as a crisis response strategy, careful source selection and careful generation of online crisis information should not be overlooked.