A model of digital health communication media use during the Covid-19 pandemic

PurposeThis research aims to develop and test a model of digital health communication media (DHCM) use for healthy food information – DHCM usage – during the Covid-19 pandemic. More specifically, this research investigated the simultaneous effects of perceived threat of Covid-19, e-health literacy, attitude toward DHCM usage, knowledge toward DHCM usage, facilitating conditions and information quality on the DHCM usage.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical data were collected through a survey. The respondents of the survey are 192 DHCM users who lived in Tangerang Regency. Structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis was performed.FindingsThe DHCM usage during the Covid-19 pandemic is significantly affected by the attitude towards the DHCM usage and the facilitating conditions. However, the DHCM usage during the Covid-19 pandemic is not significantly affected by the perceived threat of Covid-19, e-health literacy, information quality and knowledge of the DHCM usage.Research limitations/implicationsThis research was conducted only in Tangerang Regency and employed a purposive sampling technique. Future research should be conducted in other contexts to examine the stability of the research findings.Practical implicationsIn order to improve DHCM usage for healthy food information, it is important for building a positive attitude towards DHCM usage and ensuring the availability of the facilitating conditions.Originality/valueThis paper is the first that develops and tests a model of DHCM usage for healthy food information during the Covid-19 pandemic.