International perspectives on information avoidance during the coronavirus pandemic: Comparing media evaluations and media use in Pakistan, Germany, and Indonesia

Abstract

This study investigates the comparative prevalence of information avoidance concerning the coronavirus and its relationship with media evaluation and use. We argue that information avoidance is a behavior that broadly signifies the intermittent and conscious practice of shunning specific content. It is problematic because having an informed citizenry is essential, especially during a global pandemic. Given the global affectedness of the world by the coronavirus, we believe in the necessity for international comparative research and conduct our study in Pakistan, Germany, and Indonesia. Based on the existing literature, which stems predominantly from the Global North, we assume that media use and its evaluations are associated with information avoidance and test our assumptions against cross-cultural differences. Hence, we collected data in Germany (n = 822), Indonesia (n = 1164), and Pakistan (n = 467). The results indicate important differences with regard to the prevalence of information avoidance as well as media use and its evaluations across the three countries. The analysis further confirms a rather stable relationship between media evaluations with information avoidance but revealed interesting differences in the associations between media use and avoidance.