Heterogeneous Risk Perception amid the Outbreak of COVID-19 in China: Implications for Economic Confidence.

Yang, Zhixu; Xin, Ziqiang

BACKGROUND The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has elicited concerns about public fear and economic fallout. The current study takes a person-oriented approach to identify the unique response patterns that underlie three risk perception components (likelihood, severity, and protection efficacy) of COVID-19, with information sources as precursors and economic confidence as outcomes. METHODS A total of 1,074 Chinese citizens participated in a national online survey in early February 2020. RESULTS A latent profile analysis showed that participants exhibited one of three classes: Risk Neutrals (49.9%; moderate in all components), Risk Deniers (14.3%; low likelihood, low severity, and high protection efficacy), or Risk Exaggerators (35.8%; high likelihood, high severity, and low protection efficacy). Subsequent analyses showed that reliance on unofficial sources (gossip and news spread among friends; WeChat) positively correlated with membership in the Risk Exaggerators class. In turn, belonging in the Risk Exaggerators class correlated with the lowest short-term (but not long-term) economic confidence. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that exploring the heterogeneity of the public risk perception might help the government to design differentiated risk communication strategies during the COVID-19 outbreak.