Crisis Information Behavior: COVID-19 as a Crisis

In crises, people usually experience uncertainty and seek information to solve and share that information. One of the recent crises was COVID-19. The present study aimed to study the information behavior (Information-Seeking, Information sharing, Media Credibility) during the COVID-19 crisis. A descriptive quantitative research design was employed. Data for this research was collected through a questionnaire from 1,073 Iranian individuals. Cluster sampling was used, and participants were selected using snowball sampling. The findings showed that the first three media to access information during the COVID-19 crisis were Internet news sites, social networks, and traditional news media (TV, newspapers, etc.). The first three media for sharing information were phone conversations with acquaintances and friends, groups in social networks, and face-to-face information sharing with acquaintances and friends. Also, TV and social networks are the most trusted media for receiving information among participants who prefer to believe the information provided by the mass media when they have a conflict in choosing between the information received between mass media and interpersonal channels. Generally, during the COVID-19 crisis, participants obtained more information from official and government information sources, but they shared information through social networks and phone calls. Also, when there is a conflict to choose between information channels, they tend to use mass media such as TV rather than personal channels. Also, in terms of orientation to information, they did not seek more information, did not avoid the obtained and existing information, and did not show apprehension.