For My Own Sake: The Role of Personal Relevance in Information Seeking

Abstract

To test whether the risk information seeking and processing model performs consistently when a risk is viewed at different levels of personal relevance, this study focuses on the context of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. Results from an experimental survey ( N = 1,323) indicate that informational subjective norms play a bigger role when PFAS contamination is portrayed as having lower relevance to participants. Moreover, trust in government and trust in science are associated with information seeking only in the low relevance condition. Finally, the different results of worry and anxiety suggest a need to better understand discrete emotions’ impact on information seeking.