COVID-19 Vaccine-related Information Seeking and Scanning: A Test of Mediators between Information Acquisition and Vaccination Intention among Unvaccinated Black Americans.

Health information seeking and scanning are two important information acquisition strategies that can influence subsequent health behaviors. This research was contextualized in COVID-19 vaccinations and examined the effects of information seeking and scanning on vaccination intention among unvaccinated Black Americans ( N = 1,278). Moreover, this research conceptualized perceived risk and efficacy as the intervening factors for the relationship between information acquisition and behavioral intention. The results indicated that information seeking had a significant effect on vaccination intention, whereas information scanning had no effect. Perceived susceptibility and response efficacy mediated the relationship between information seeking and vaccination intention. The proposed mediators did not mediate the relationship between information scanning and vaccination intention. Theoretical and practical implications are offered.