Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Dec;29(4):368-384.
doi: 10.1111/1468-5973.12354. Epub 2021 Feb 7.

The role of communication transparency and organizational trust in publics' perceptions, attitudes and social distancing behaviour: A case study of the COVID-19 outbreak

Yeunjae Lee  1 , Jo-Yun Queenie Li  1
Affiliations

The role of communication transparency and organizational trust in publics' perceptions, attitudes and social distancing behaviour: A case study of the COVID-19 outbreak

Yeunjae Lee et al. J Conting Crisis Manag. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Integrating social cognitive theory and public relations literature, this study examines the effectiveness of organizations' transparent communication in building public trust and encouraging health-protection behaviours (i.e. social distancing) during a pandemic, that is, the COVID-19 outbreak. Three aspects of transparent communication are investigated, namely information substantiality, accountability and participation. Results of an online survey of American citizens show that during the early stage of COVID-19, information substantiality by state governments and health institutes (e.g., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) increases publics' trust, which positively influences their perceived risks, behavioural control and subjective norms. The participation of health institutes, rather than state governments, significantly increases public trust, whereas accountability has no effects. Individuals' perceptions and attitudes towards social distancing predict their social distancing behaviour during the outbreak. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords: COVID‐19 outbreak; organizational trust; perceived risks; social cognitive theory; social distancing; transparent communication.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual model
Figure 2
Figure 2
Results of the hypothesized model
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Adams, C. A. , & Evans, R. (2004). Accountability, completeness, credibility and the audit expectations gap. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 14, 97–115. 10.9774/GLEAF.4700.2004.su.00010 - DOI
    1. Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. 10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T - DOI
    1. Albu, O. B. , & Wehmeier, S. (2014). Organizational transparency and sense‐making: The case of Northern Rock. Journal of Public Relations Research, 26(2), 117–133. 10.1080/1062726X.2013.795869 - DOI
    1. Almasy, S. , Maxouris, C. , & Chavez, N. (2020). US coronavirus cases surpass 1 million and the death toll is greater than US losses in Vietnam War. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/28/health/us-coronavirus-tuesday/index.html
    1. Al‐Swidi, A. , Huque, S. M. R. , Hafeez, M. H. , & Shariff, M. N. M. (2014). The role of subjective norms in theory of planned behavior in the context of organic food consumption. British Food Journal, 116, 1561–1580. 10.1108/BFJ-05-2013-0105 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources