Leticia Bode, David S. Lassen, Young Mie Kim, Dhavan V. Shah, Erika Franklin Fowler, Travis Ridout and Michael Franz
Despite the growing use of social media by politicians, especially during election campaigns, research on the integration of these media into broader campaign communication…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the growing use of social media by politicians, especially during election campaigns, research on the integration of these media into broader campaign communication strategies remains rare. The purpose of this paper is to ask what the consequences of the transition to social media may be, specifically considering how Senate candidates’ use of a popular social network, Twitter, is related to their messaging via broadcast media in the form of campaign advertising, in terms of content and tone.
Design/methodology/approach
To address this research question, a unique data set combining every tweet (10,303) and every television ad aired (576,933 ad airings) by candidate campaigns for the US Senate during the 2010 campaign is created. Using these data, tweets and ads are analyzed for their references to issues as well as their overall tone.
Findings
Findings demonstrate that social messaging often resembles broadcast advertising, but that Twitter nonetheless occupies a unique place in modern campaigns in that its tone tends to be quite different than that of advertisements.
Research limitations/implications
This sheds light on a larger debate about whether online campaigning has produced a fundamental change in election practices or whether new media simply extend “campaigning as usual.”
Originality/value
This study uses a novel data set, encompassing the complete universe of ads and tweets distributed by candidates for Senate in 2010.
Details
Keywords
Ahmed Abidur Razzaque Khan, Garry J. Stevens, Nichole Georgeou, Dianne Bolton and Terry Landells
This chapter examines the plight of Bangladeshi labourers after experiencing labour trafficking during irregular migration via a perilous maritime route to Malaysia in 2015, most…
Abstract
This chapter examines the plight of Bangladeshi labourers after experiencing labour trafficking during irregular migration via a perilous maritime route to Malaysia in 2015, most of them involved in the Andaman Sea crisis. Their journey and their experiences of trauma are examined at four stages of their journey; pre-commencement/commencement; being trafficked and sold as a batch; at the transfer point when extortion of their families at home occurs, and at the end of their journey as returnees to Bangladesh (the large majority never reaching their destination). The theoretical framework helps highlight the significance of culture on the trauma experienced by the returnees in the broad context of economic and social pressures. It also leverages the individual/collectivism model from cultural psychology, self-discrepancy and resiliency theory to explain how individuals respond to and deal with such trauma, with implications for government policy and NGO support (both pro-active and re-active responses).
Details
Keywords
Muhammad Asif Naveed, Amara Malik and Khalid Mahmood
This study investigated the impact of conspiracy beliefs on fear of Covid-19 and health protective behavior of university students in Pakistan.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated the impact of conspiracy beliefs on fear of Covid-19 and health protective behavior of university students in Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire was conducted at three universities in Punjab (e.g. two public sectors and one private sector) with permission from concerned authorities for data collection. A total of 374 responses were received that were analyzed by applying both descriptive and inferential statistics.
Findings
The results indicated the prevalence of conspiracy beliefs and fear of Covid-19 among university students of two public sector universities and one private sector university. Furthermore, the conspiracy beliefs of university students predicted their fear of Covid-19. However, conspiracy beliefs did not predict the health protective behavior of university students.
Research limitations/implications
These results had serious implications for public health in Pakistan demonstrating the critical need for health education and promotion as individual preparedness along with system preparedness is essential to combat Covid-19 pandemic and infodemic. These results are useful for policymakers, healthcare professionals, university administration and library staff for making evidence-based decisions toward health education and promotion related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Originality/value
It is hoped that the present study would make an invaluable contribution to existing research on promotional health in general and the role of conspiracy beliefs in putting public health at risk in particular as limited studies have been published so far.
Details
Keywords
Yan Su, Porismita Borah and Xizhu Xiao
This study has three main purposes: (1) to investigate the association between social media news use and misperceptions about COVID-19; (2) to explore the mediating role of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study has three main purposes: (1) to investigate the association between social media news use and misperceptions about COVID-19; (2) to explore the mediating role of homogeneous online discussion; (3) and to understand whether the extent to which one perceives themselves as media-literate could moderate the relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an online survey and collected data through Amazon Mechanical Turk. A total of 797 participants aged 18 and above completed the survey. The average age of the respondents is 38.40 years (SD = 12.31), and 41.2% were female. In terms of party identification, 30.8% were reported leaning toward Republicans; 53.7% leaned toward Democrats, and 15.4% were reported neutral.
Findings
Results from a moderated mediation model show that social media news use is positively associated with misperceptions about the COVID-19. Moreover, homogeneous online discussion was a significant mediator of the relationship between social media news use and misperceptions about COVID-19. Further, self-perceived media literacy (SPML) significantly moderated the main and indirect effects between social media news use and COVID-19 misperceptions, such that the associations became weaker among those with higher SPML.
Originality/value
Findings provide insights into the significance of online information sources, discussion network heterogeneity and media literacy education. Although there have been many studies on misinformation, prior research has not examined these relationships, which may help provide solutions to cope with misinformation.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-06-2021-0305
Details
Keywords
Yulong Tang, Chen Luo and Yan Su
The ballooning health misinformation on social media raises grave concerns. Drawing upon the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) model and the information processing literature…
Abstract
Purpose
The ballooning health misinformation on social media raises grave concerns. Drawing upon the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) model and the information processing literature, this study aims to explore (1) how social media health information seeking (S) affects health misinformation sharing intention (R) through the channel of health misperceptions (O) and (2) whether the mediation process would be contingent upon different information processing predispositions.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from a survey comprising 388 respondents from the Chinese middle-aged or above group, one of China's most susceptible populations to health misinformation. Standard multiple linear regression models and the PROCESS Macro were adopted to examine the direct effect and the moderated mediation model.
Findings
Results bolstered the S-O-R-based mechanism, in which health misperceptions mediated social media health information seeking's effect on health misinformation sharing intention. As an indicator of analytical information processing, need for cognition (NFC) failed to moderate the mediation process. Contrarily, faith in intuition (FI), an indicator reflecting intuitive information processing, served as a significant moderator. The positive association between social media health information seeking and misperceptions was stronger among respondents with low FI.
Originality/value
This study sheds light on health misinformation sharing research by bridging health information seeking, information internalization and information sharing. Moreover, the authors extended the S-O-R model by integrating information processing predispositions, which differs this study from previous literature and advances the extant understanding of how information processing styles work in the face of online health misinformation. The particular age group and the Chinese context further inform context-specific implications regarding online health misinformation regulation.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2023-0157.
Details
Keywords
Akeem Modeste-James and Camille Huggins
Increased migration to small island developing states poses major challenges on receiving countries' healthcare systems. Due to public health policy on treating migrants in…
Abstract
Purpose
Increased migration to small island developing states poses major challenges on receiving countries' healthcare systems. Due to public health policy on treating migrants in Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuelan migrants are experiencing less than optimal care. This paper examines the retrospective accounts of physicians treating Venezuelan migrants with limited access to healthcare.
Design/methodology/approach
Ten in depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with physicians working in primary healthcare and emergency departments about their clinical decision-making process in providing care for Venezuelan migrants. A narrative approach was used to highlight the personal experiences of participants. Participants were recruited by their response to an online advertisement on social media (i.e. Facebook and Instagram) and via email invitations. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded using NVIVO-12 software.
Findings
Findings revealed language barriers between Venezuelan migrants and Trinidad and Tobago-based physicians hindered providing optimal care coordination. Physicians indicated the use of a translator app to bridge the service gap but questioned their ethics. Participants noted tensions between junior and senior physicians regarding referrals of Venezuelan migrants to outpatient care. The data suggests physicians' felt constrained providing additional services such as primary care due to the Provision of Public Healthcare Services Policy which forbids primary care services to migrants.
Originality/value
Sparse research on the barriers to accessing healthcare for Venezuelan migrants residing in the small island states.
Details
Keywords
Sadia Aziz, Muhammad Abdullah Khan Niazi and Usman Ghani
This study aims to empirically examine the knowledge, social and religious factors effecting the intention to receive COVID-19 vaccination while considering the mediating role of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to empirically examine the knowledge, social and religious factors effecting the intention to receive COVID-19 vaccination while considering the mediating role of attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination. The research explores how the Islamic ideologies shape Muslims’ knowledge, social and religious beliefs towards COVID-19 vaccination acceptance or refusal.
Design/methodology/approach
Theoretically, the study is based on the functional theory of attitudes. The model of the study is comprised of nine variables explaining the attitude and intention towards COVID-19 vaccination. Among nine variables, perceived Islamic religiosity, perceived behavioural control and Halal consciousness among Muslims are explained through the value-expressive function of attitude. Furthermore, the perceived risk of COVID-19, the perceived side effect of COVID-19 vaccination and the perceived efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination are considered in the model based on the utility function of attitude. Moreover, social influence for COVID vaccination, subjective norms and group conformity are abstracted from the social-adjustive function of attitude. This study used a quantitative survey research method to test the hypotheses. A total of 1,000 questionnaires were distributed to non-vaccinated Muslim respondents from five cities in Pakistan. The structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was used to test the relationship among the variables in the proposed model. The partial least square-SEM method explained the variances in the dependent variables. Moreover, to test the structure of data, different statistical tests, including exploratory factor analysis (EFA), factor loadings and average variance extracted, were used with the help of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and analysis of a moment structures (AMOS) 23.0 version.
Findings
Results for direct effect showed a significant negative effect of Islamic religiosity, perceived behavioural control, halal consciousness, perceived side effect of COVID-19 vaccination, social influence, subjective norm and group conformity on attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination. In contrast, insignificant results showed no relationship of perceived risk from COVID-19 infection and perceived efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination with attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination. Results for mediating effect showed the significant negative mediating effect of attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination between Islamic religiosity, perceived behavioural control, halal consciousness, perceived side effect, social influence, subjective norm, group conformity and intention to receive COVID-19 vaccination. While results showed the insignificant mediation of attitude towards COVID-19 between perceived risk from COVID-19 infection, perceived efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination and intention to receive COVID-19 vaccination.
Research limitations/implications
Further studies are required to compare the attitude and intention among the temporary refusal group (those who will consider vaccination the future) and the permanent refusal group (those who will not consider vaccination the future). Comparing Muslim and non-Muslim groups can also explain differences in attitude and intention towards COVID-19 vaccination.
Originality/value
The area of acceptance and refusal of COVID-19 vaccination has been given limited attention in academic literature. Theoretically, this research has proposed a well-defined model to explain the attitude of Muslims towards COVID-19 vaccination. This model can helpf predict the attitude and intentions of Muslims towards vaccination or medicines. Moreover, this research is a unique contribution for the vaccination brands to consider the discussed factors before launching their brand in Muslim countries.
Details
Keywords
Rajat Kumar Behera, Pradip Kumar Bala, Nripendra P. Rana and Yogesh K. Dwivedi
The Internet is used as a tool to seek health information by individuals. Mental health concerns are the high prevalence of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and…
Abstract
Purpose
The Internet is used as a tool to seek health information by individuals. Mental health concerns are the high prevalence of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and preventive steps are required to curb the illness. Therefore, to gain more insight into health concerns, it is now a common practice to seek health information on the Internet. This study propose an integrated theoretical model to explore the relationship between COVID-19 protocols and perceived online trust with online health information seeking intention (OHISI) and a moderating effect of perceived severity and perceived urgency.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are collected from 325 athletes in the category of individual and team sports through an online survey in a Likert-scale questionnaire. The analysis is performed with a quantitative methodology.
Findings
The study reveals the bright side of online health information (OHI), which brings athletes together and has played out with virtual happy hours, meetings and events. The bright side of OHI reflects social, cultural, technological and economic benefits. An OHI chatbot offers bright personalised side information to the individual seeker, which is more convenient and efficient than human capabilities.
Originality/value
The pivotal contribution is the integrated theoretical framework that is derived from multidisciplinary literature to capture the complexity of OHI. Also, it conceptualises the constructs in the context of OHI and COVID-19.
Details
Keywords
Pranab Kumar Panday and Awal Hossain Mollah
The main aim of this paper is to analyze judicial system of Bangladesh, which comprises all courts and tribunals that performs the delicate task of ensuring rule of law in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The main aim of this paper is to analyze judicial system of Bangladesh, which comprises all courts and tribunals that performs the delicate task of ensuring rule of law in the society. The paper depicts the history and evolution of the judicial system in Bangladesh from ancient period to present day.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is qualitative in nature and based on secondary sources of materials like books, journal articles, government orders, rules, acts, newspaper reports, etc. Relevant literature has also been collected through internet browsing.
Findings
The major findings of this paper are: there is a well‐organized court system in Bangladesh which is in fact the replica of the system introduced by British rulers and it is widely accepted in the original Constitution of Bangladesh. The ancient judicial system was not based on rule of law rather on caprice and caste consideration. The executive branch of government always attempts to control the judiciary through different mechanisms, which include the appointment, tenure and discipline of judges from ancient period. Therefore, the independence of judiciary is vulnerable from ancient time to present day and even after separation of the judiciary from the executive (November 2007) the interference of the executive over the judiciary is still continuing.
Practical implications
This paper opens a new window for the policy makers and concerned authorities to take necessary steps for overcoming the existing limitations of judiciary.
Originality/value
The paper will be of interest to legal practitioners, policy makers, members of civil society, and those in the field of judicial system in Bangladesh and some other British colonial common law countries.
Details
Keywords
Bohee So and Ki Han Kwon
This study, a narrative literature review, aims to examine the combined benefits of the active and passive use of social media (SM) for well-being (WB), physical and mental health…
Abstract
Purpose
This study, a narrative literature review, aims to examine the combined benefits of the active and passive use of social media (SM) for well-being (WB), physical and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
A search strategy has been carried out in the databases: Riss, PubMed, Medline, Scopus and Google Scholar, including all the articles published until 19 October 2023.
Findings
SM offers various benefits, including global risk awareness, health information, social connections and support. With the natural increase in physical inactivity due to COVID-19 social restrictions, SM has been identified as an appropriate tool for promoting physical activity (PA) at home to improve health.
Research limitations/implications
It suggests that the combined use of active and passive benefits of SM could potentially play an important role in public health by increasing individuals’ health behaviours. In addition, dissemination, sharing and social interaction of information provided by YouTube can encourage healthy behaviours, contribute to WB, physical and mental health and raise public health awareness.
Originality/value
The findings presented in this study highlight the combined benefits of differentiating the features of SM use. Compared to other SM platforms, YouTube can be used as a useful tool for home-based PA that promotes health by enabling people to remain active and avoid barriers to PA due to social restrictions during the global crisis. In addition, some recommendations from the findings may help protect against potential risks and improve public health outcomes during global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, among the general public using SM.