Factors Influencing Disasters Information-Seeking Behaviour via Social Networking Sites

Disasters bring uncertainties and substantial health, economic, social and psychological challenges. Effective management of disasters requires thorough understanding of their causes, nature and consequences. Affected individuals may, therefore, seek instant, trustworthy information from different sources including social networking sites (SNSs). This study investigates what leads individuals to seek disaster information on SNSs. The investigated potential drivers are source credibility, argument quality, self-efficacy, perceived usefulness of information and behavioural intention. The Structural Equation Modelling analysis of 867 responses confirms that source and argument quality, self-efficacy and perceived usefulness are all significant antecedents of behavioural intention, which in turn influences disaster information seeking on SNSs. This study’s empirical findings augment the sparse literature on factors influencing SNS use to source the much-needed information amid the uncertainty and ambiguity of a disaster. Policymakers can establish SNSs as a vital source of catastrophe information by understanding people’s SNS interactions during catastrophes. Our findings may help government authorities and crisis managers integrate SNSs into disaster management and public engagement.