Information needs and seeking behaviors of Israeli citizens during the COVID-19 outbreak
| Date | 03 March 2022 |
| Pages | 752-772 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-06-2021-0167 |
| Published date | 03 March 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management |
| Author | Gal Yavetz,Noa Aharony,Yaen Yaacov Sofer |
Information needs and seeking
behaviors of Israeli citizens during
the COVID-19 outbreak
Gal Yavetz, Noa Aharony and Yaen Yaacov Sofer
Department of Information Science, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Abstract
Purpose –The aim of this study is to examine the information needs and information seeking behaviors of
Israeli citizens during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 2020, with an emphasis on the
dissemination of digital information by government agencies.
Design/methodology/approach –The research approach underlying this investigation is of the “case
study”type, employing semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted with 24 Israeli citizens regarding their
perceptions and experiences with government information and government services during the first months of
the coronavirus.
Findings –The findings of this study reveal that most participants indicated feelings of media fatigue as a
result of increased exposure to news media and social media, to the point of experiencing information overload.
Second, participants described feeling a lackof clear information and poor access to accurate health and official
information at the outset of the COVID-19 crisis in Israel. Third, participants in the authors’study noted that
most of the information to which they were exposed about the virus came to them through communal
connections such as friends and family, via social media and messaging apps like WhatsApp. In general, the
participants expressed satisfaction with the quality and availability of the data and extensive information of
government ministries on social networks, together with a lack of satisfaction due to difficulties in usage and a
lack of clear information on traditional government websites.
Originality/value –The findings present the information acquisition and the experience of citizens
in situations of national emergencies and crises, in a new light, through a focus on the dissemination of
government, health and news information.
Keywords COVID-19, Government information, Information needs, Social media, Israel
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The outbreak of the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led to an unprecedented
increase in information needs of citizens, such as the need for health guidelines, news updates
and especially official information from government bodies (Alshammari et al., 2020;Do et al.,
2021;Le et al., 2020). During the crisis, citizens in many countries around the world turned to
various social applications, such as social media and messaging apps, to address a growing
need for relevant information including guidelines, restrictions, mental or financial assistance
(Caballero et al., 2020;Jayasinghe et al., 2020;Le et al., 2020). Government agencies routinely
work to make accurate information available and accessible on digital channels, and
especially in times of crisis such as the global emergency caused by the spread of the
coronavirus worldwide (Do et al., 2021;Ferreira and Borges, 2020). Through the use of digital
applications, such as social media platforms and various messaging apps, government
agencies can respond to citizens seeking help, assistance and relevant information via these
channels, immediately and readily (Chen et al., 2020;Frew and Griswold, 2016;Gasc
oet al.,
2017). While national events and various emergencies in the past led to relatively moderate
and targeted uses of government information dissemination, the outbreak of the coronavirus
AJIM
75,4
752
This research was funded by the Dangoor Personalized Medicine Fund at Bar-Ilan University.
This work was supported by Dangoor Personalized Medicine Fund at Bar-Ilan University.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2050-3806.htm
Received 6 July 2021
Revised 11 November 2021
4 February 2022
Accepted 11 February 2022
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 75 No. 4, 2023
pp. 752-772
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-06-2021-0167
in 2020 is considered to be unprecedented in its global impact, currently numbering over 118
million infections and about 2.5 million deaths worldwide (Guarino et al., 2021).
On March11, 2020, the WorldHealth Organization(WHO) declaredthe coronavirusa global
pandemic. At that time, the Israeli government was among the first in the world to actively
respond to a series of preventive measures, such as closing educational institutions, cultural
events and restaurants, as an initial response to the pandemic and to reduce potential morbidity
(Gesser-Edelsburg et al., 2020).From those early days and duringthe months that followed, the
Israeli government began to convey information and messages about the coronavirus, mainly
through press conferences and press releases from the Ministry of Health and the Prime Minister
(Gesser-Edelsburg and Hijazi, 2020). This distribution of information was carried mainly
through traditional media channels such as television or newspapers and via social media
platforms, as their usage became particularly common by the Israeli government in recent years
(Yavetz and Aharony, 2020,2021). With the prolongation of preventive measures that included
closures and other social distancing measures, the Israeli public subsequently sought more
extensive information about the virus and its effects on many aspects of their daily lives, such as
the economy,employment, welfare and health.While previous studies have soughtto examine
the information needs of citizens through in-depth content analysis (Chen et al., 2020;Guarino
et al., 2021), tracking diaries (Ahmed, 2020) and conducting surveys (Gesser-Edelsburg et al.,
2020), this study focuses, for the first time, on the information and digital needs of Israeli citizens
during the outbreak of the Coronavirus period through in-depth interviews, while examining
their interpretations and perceptions. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the information
needs of Israeli citizens specifically during the first mon ths of the outbreak of the coronavirus
pandemic in 2020, their preferences regarding different information sources, and their
experiences of accessing these applications via various digital means and mass media (Majid
and Rahmat, 2013).
2. Literature review
2.1 Citizens and government information
Accurate and reliable government communication can help meet the information needs of
citizens, when it comes to facts about rights, obligations, and life in a democratic society
(Gintova, 2019;Hong et al., 2018). With the increased use of social media in the last decade and
their central status in various cultures and countries, they are perceived as providing an
effective way to directly transfer up-to-date knowledge in order to meet citizens’various
information needs (Aburumman and Szil
agyi, 2020;Ayanso and Moyers, 2020). Although,
not all public organizations have adopted social media as their main communication tool
(Mabillard et al., 2021), most government organizations have already implemented at least
one social technology or are in the process of implementing it (Criado and Villodre, 2021).
Despite the fact that these media platforms do not provide a comprehensive response to
populations in need of assistance (Sonnenberg, 2020), it can still be seen that they do provide a
reasonable response that can reach large sections of the population, due to their accessibility,
ease of use and the availability they offer their users (Hung et al., 2020). The ease of using
social media, as well as the high availability of these channels, is critical and especially
important when it comes to adopting and transmitting updates and information quickly in
times of national emergency and crises (Chen et al., 2020;Nganji and Cockburn, 2020;Yeo
et al., 2018). During periods and events of this kind, the need grows stronger for government
institutions to quickly reach a wide as possible audience, in order to provide vital information
such as self-protection, alerts, real-time assistance and crisis exit options (Ahmed, 2018;
Harrison and Johnson, 2019;Lovari and Bowen, 2020;Yuan and Gasc
o, 2018). Social media
can reach wide audiences, disseminate, collect information and data from residents and
Information
needs and
seeking
behaviors
753
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
