The behaviour of consumers and information providers during a pandemic: analysis of information related to Covid-19 and the way consumers in social media reacted to this information

Abstract

People’s reactions to information can teach us about their attitudes and feelings about a certain topic. In this study, we investigate peoples’ reactions to Covid-19 related information throughout different periods of the pandemic. We created a wide database of the leading content providers in Israel, and then examined the characteristics of the various news items on Facebook and their sharing features. A quantitative study that examined 552,733 posts on Facebook and analysed the responses to those posts. Covid-19 related posts drew more shares and interactions such as ‘sad’, ‘care’, and ‘angry’ in comparison to posts that were not related to Covid-19. When ividing the information collected by different periods, it seems that the attitude toward information about Covid-19 related topics varies according to the period. People reacted and engaged with information regarding Covid-19 differently throughout the pandemic. In the beginning, people shared more information to help others in reducing their uncertainty. When more information about the pandemic was available people shared less information as it was not needed. On the other hand, people felt more comfortable commenting on posts and expressing their opinion as they received more information about the pandemic.