81012638

open access

Version of Record

Googling the World Health Organization during the COVID-19 Crisis (Researcn Note)

English (英語)

Kobe University law review

53

51-71

神戸大学大学院法学研究科

2020

2021-03-29

Using Google’s daily internet queries about the World Health Organization (WHO), this research note aims to examine whether people, during a health pandemic, pay attention to what the WHO proclaimed and why. Internet searches reflect people’s personal concerns about a topic and can serve as a proxy for people’s demand for information. We hypothesize that those who live in the areas where the COVID-19 infection rate is high are more likely to seek information about the pandemic to cope with their health risk, so they are more likely to pay attention to the WHO as a reliable source of health-related information after the organization makes crucial announcements about the pandemic. Empirical analyses using the sample of the United States confirmed our hypothesis. Moreover, we found that WHO announcements have impact on people’s Google searches for the WHO in U.S. states with a high percentage of Trump voters who have generally less trust or interest in international organizations. Overall, these patterns of people’s information-seeking behavior suggest an important role of the WHO in global health governance, while they also indicate some limitations.

紀要論文