Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has brough with it an information avalanche; thus, it is key to understand how people are informing themselves in this context. This study seeks to understand the patterns of information seeking, scanning or incidental exposure, and avoidance of coronavirus content in Chile, and to identify the individual characteristics that explain the three information behaviors. A survey of 3,592 people was conducted combining online (n=1,891) and telephone application (n=1,701) between September and November 2020. The data analysis included descriptive statistics and multivariate regression models. Scanning was found to be more prevalent than seeking. The preferred source for scanning was television while digital media were the most central for seeking. Age was negatively associated with scanning and seeking, and positively associated with avoidance. Women sought less than men and avoided more. People with lower educational levels scanned and sought to a lesser degree and avoided more than those with a higher education. This work shows important gaps in access to information about the pandemic by age, gender, and educational level in Chile. These findings underscore the importance of making active efforts to reach the audience segments less motivated to access to this content and they highlight the centrality of television in reaching these users.