Exploring COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation Exposure, Beliefs, Fear, and Information Avoidance via the Stimulus–Organism–Response Framework

Empirical evidence generated from theory-driven research addressing the relationship between misinformation and vaccine information avoidance during a pandemic remains lacking. Using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study examined the influence of vaccine misinformation exposure and information overload on cognitive and affective responses as well as vaccine information avoidance behaviors. Findings showed that misinformation exposure predicted cognitive health beliefs (perceived vaccination barriers and benefits) and negative emotions (fear) toward the vaccines; health beliefs in turn predicted information avoidance. Information overload moderated (a) the relationship between misinformation exposure and health beliefs and (b) the relation between misinformation exposure and fear.