Popular Among Distrustful Youth? Social Media Influencers' Communication About COVID-19 and Young People's Risk Perceptions and Vaccination Intentions

During the COVID-19 crisis, many social media influencers (SMIs) discussed the pandemic on their channels and showcased their behavior in dealing with the virus. Drawing on the two-step flow of communication and social learning theory, we investigated the attitudinal and behavioral consequences of SMIs' COVID-19-related communication in a two-wave panel survey among emerging adults aged 16-21 years (NT1 = 978, NT2 = 415). Our results contribute to the health communication literature by discovering that institutional mistrust determines whether young people resort to SMIs as an information source for COVID-19-related information. Those with higher mistrust in established media organizations and the government were more likely to consult SMIs for COVID-19-related information and to consider them as role models when exposed to relevant content. Moreover, consulting SMIs who promote noncompliance as a COVID-19 information source was over time related to lower vaccination intentions.

Automated summary

This study found that the level of institutional mistrust determines whether young people turn to social media influencers (SMIs) as a source of COVID-19 related information and whether they view them as role models when exposed to relevant content. Consulting SMIs who promote noncompliance as a source of COVID-19 information is also related to lower vaccination intentions.