Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Oct 30, 2023
Date Accepted: Feb 3, 2024
Generation Z’s Health Information Avoidance Behavior: Insights from a Qualitative Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Younger generations are actively using social media to access health information. However, research shows they also avoid health information online at times when confronted with uncertainty.
Objective:
This study examines the phenomenon of health information avoidance among Generation Z, a representative cohort of active online users in the present era.
Methods:
Drawing on the PRIA model, we adopted a qualitative approach to explore the factors related to information avoidance within the context of health and risk communication. The researchers recruited 38 participants aged 16-25 years for the focus groups discussion sessions.
Results:
The findings revealed three main influencing factors of Generation Z’s information avoidance behaviors: sociocultural, cognitive, and affective factors. Socioculturally, group identity and social norms among peers lead some to avoid health information. Cognitively, mixed levels of risk perception, conflicting values, information overload, and low credibility of information sources elicited their information avoidance behaviors. Affectively, negative emotions like anxiety, frustration, and the desire to stay positive contributed to avoidance.
Conclusions:
The work delivered implications for the understanding of young users’ information avoidance behaviors for both the academia and practices.
Citation
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Copyright
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