International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2021 ╤Аrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES. Rehabilitation ORIGINAL RESEARCH тАЬLooking for Fun or Escaping the Fear?тАЭ How Can COVID-19 Cyberchondriacs Enjoy the Online Shopping During the Pandemic AuthorтАЩs Contribution: A тАУ Study design; Masmoudi M. H.1 ABCDEFG B тАУ Data collection; C тАУ Statistical analysis; 1 University of Sfax, Tunisia D тАУ Data interpretation; E тАУ Manuscript preparation; F тАУ Literature search; Received: 20.11.2021; Accepted: 18.12.2021; Published: 25.12.2021 G тАУ Funds collection Abstract Background and As the pandemic escalated into a global health crisis with abundant reports, Aim of Study: updates and personal stories invading the World Wide Web and the social media, the context of COVID-19 offered for researchers an opportunity exploring the cyberchondria concept. Surprisingly, despite its prominence, the consequences of this shift in health behavior are still not fully appreciated. For many cyberchondriacs, the online shopping experience is considered as a coping strategy. The aim of the study: to investigate how excessive health-related anxiety leads to online shopping enjoyment, and to examine the mediating roles of COVID-19 fear and hedonic shopping motivation. Material and Methods: A survey methodology is used to collect responses from a sample of 355 consumers in Tunisia and analyzed via AMOS 23. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the causal relationship between measured variables. Results: Our results indicate that during the current pandemic, the cyberchondria was associated with an increased online shopping enjoyment guided both by a developed fear from this virus and some of the hedonic motivations. Conclusions: This study is one of the first studies that investigate the impact of cyberchondria on shopping experiences. Our findings may indicate starting points for some public health marketers and managers to make interventions to reduce cyberchondria during the pandemic. Particularly, online shopping may be considered as a safe space, where anxious people may escape. However, public health organizations should carefully consider these outcomes of cyberchondria and should elucidate clear pathways of action so that consumers feel empowered to tackle the pandemic effectively. Keywords: cyberchondria, COVID-19 pandemic, health anxiety, consumer well-being, fear, hedonic shopping motivations, online shopping enjoyment Copyright: ┬й 2021 Masmoudi M. H. Published by Archives of International Journal of Science Annals DOI and UDC DOI https://doi.org/10.26697/ijsa.2021.2.4 UDC 614.46:614.441 Conflict of interests: The author declares that there is no conflict of interests Peer review: Double-blind review Source of support: This research did not receive any outside funding or support Information about Masmoudi Manel Hakim тАУ https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7902-7094; the author: manel.hakim.masmoudi@gmail.com; Doctor of Philosophy in Management Sciences (Marketing), Assistant Professor, University of Sfax, Tunisia. 37 International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2021 ╤Аrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa Introduction individuals and their well-being (Laato et al., 2020). The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 has been Particularly, it was generally related to distress and considered as a major public health crisis, which has health anxiety (Doherty-Torstrick et al., 2016; infected more than 10 million people worldwide (Wang Mohammed et al., 2019; Starcevic & Berle, 2013). In et al., 2020). Considering its drawbacks, many addition, people are seeking health-related data in order researchers start scientific debates universally (Laato et to reclaim a sense of safety and control. Thus, a health al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020). Since it could influence online search may constitute a coping strategy for health human mental well-being and lead to fears, worries, and anxious individuals (Jungmann & Witthoft, 2020). In anxiety among individuals, psychological and recent years, many researchers were interested in the behavioral drawbacks are considered as key research role of coping processes and emotional regulation in focus (Jungmann & Witthoft, 2020; Wang et al., 2020). health anxiety (Gioia & Boursier, 2020). In this context, previous studies on pandemics have Surprisingly, despite its spread and its prominence, the demonstrated that anxiety, health worries, and safety consequences of this shift in health behavior are still not behavior are widespread in these times and have fully appreciated (Jungmann & Witthoft, 2020; Laato et reported that up to over 50% of respondents show al., 2020; Mohammed et al., 2019). Research into worries or anxiety during virus-induced pandemics тАЬcyberchondriaтАЭ is in its infancy (McManus et al., (Garfin et al., 2020; Jungmann & Witthoft, 2020). 2014). Particularly, there has been little research on the Embedding our study in the field of mental health, we effects associated with health anxiety and cyberchondria heed the call for research into solutions to promote in the context of consumer behavior (Wang et al., 2020). mental wellbeing. In this field, so much work can be The investigation of possible effects can help to better done and public health specialists can propose an understand the consumersтАЩ reactions to the increasing effective way out to challenge societal problems, health anxiety and to develop possible transdisciplinary particularly those related to mental health problems measures. In this current research, we are trying to (Jungmann & Witthoft, 2020; Huang & Zhao, 2020; investigate the effect of cyberchondria on online Xiao et al., 2020). However, there is still a limited shopping, which is considered as a coping strategy. In exploration of the impact of COVID-19 on consumersтАЩ fact, during this pandemic, the online shopping mental well-being and consumersтАЩ behavior (Jungmann experience is considered as inevitable solution to social & Witthoft, 2020; Zhang & Ma, 2020). distancing and an evolving risk of contamination. In Several studies have revealed an association between other words, avoidance-motivated people seek such infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and anxiety experiences not for the presence of positive stimuli, but disorders (Bajcar & Babiak, 2021; E. Lee & Lee, 2019; rather for the relative absence of negative stimuli. Hashemi et al., 2020). In this paper, we are focusing on Physical shopping is becoming too risky and the online one specific side of health anxiety called context provides a safer shopping environment, тАЬcyberchondriaтАЭ. This latter is consistent with cognitive particularly for those who showed health-related behavioral models of health anxiety which consider anxiety. repetitively checking sources of medical information as It was demonstrated that being involved in a public a form of reassurance seeking (Doherty-Torstrick et al., health emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic, can 2016; Loos, 2013). It refers to searching the web spark consumersтАЩ preferences for utilitarian products, excessively for health care information and escalation of for making unusual protection purchases and for anxiety regarding the state of oneтАЩs health (Doherty- hoarding and stockpiling (Latoo et al., 2020; Wang et Torstrick et al., 2016; McManus et al., 2014; al., 2020). However, even if hedonic purchases are often Mohammed et al., 2019). viewed as the tools to regulate consumersтАЩ emotions In fact, many individuals are going online to search for (e.g. stress, negative mood) (Wang et al., 2020), no prior useful information that may help them to reduce stress, research investigated the effect of such health anxiety on anxiety and bad feeling about what would happen in the the enjoyable side of shopping as coping strategy. future. Past researchers suggest the term тАЬDr. GoogleтАЭ The aim of the study. To investigate how excessive to describe how patients make Google searches for some health-related anxiety leads to online shopping selfтАСhelp and selfтАСmanagement (Lee et al., 2014). Web enjoyment, and to examine the mediating roles of search engines can intensify requests about content on COVID-19 fear and hedonic shopping motivation. serious, lifeтАСthreatening, or rare diseases (Mohammed et Five main hypotheses will be tested in the following al., 2019; White & Horvitz, 2009). Cyberchondria is parts (Figure 1): evolving not only among clinically diagnosed people, H1: Cyberchondria is positively related to hedonic but also among those who have no medical training. shopping motivations. Even if this phenomenon is not new, the context of H2: Cyberchondria affect positively the online shopping COVID-19 offered researchers worldwide an enjoyment. opportunity for exploring this concept, as the pandemic H3: The hedonic shopping motivations affect positively escalated into a global health crisis with abundant the online shopping enjoyment. reports and personal stories invading the World Wide H4: Cyberchondria increases the level of COVID-19 Web and the social media (Laato et al., 2020). In fact, fear. since 2019, several researchers proved that H5: The higher level of COVID-19 fear, the more likely cyberchondria can be damaging and harmful for consumers will enjoy the online shopping experience. 38 International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2021 ╤Аrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa Figure 1 Conceptual Model of Cyberchondria Hedonic motivations H3 H1 H2 Online shopping Cyberchondria enjoyment H4 H5 Fear of COVID- 19 . Materials and Methods Table 1 In 2020, in Tunisia, the COVID-19 pandemic appeared Characteristics of the Final Sample as a central health concern with extended media Participants coverage about it. Increased health anxiety is evolving Characteristics number (n) percentage (%) among Tunisian consumers. The studyтАЩs primary Gender objective was to test the conceptual model (see Figure 1) Male 147 41.4 that captures relationships between cyberchondria, fear Female 208 58.6 of COVID-19 and hedonic shopping motivations. We Total 355 100.0 created a survey online, starting with a brief overview Age introducing the purpose of the study and reminding the From 18 to 25 83 23.4 confidentiality of all responses. For this study, we used From 26 to 35 85 23.9 convenience sampling to target anxious consumers due From 36 to 45 99 27.9 to the difficulty of using probability sampling. To recruit From 46 to 60 50 14.1 respondents, we joined some non-governmental Over 61 years 38 10.7 Facebook groups created to fight against COVID-19 in which the community members showed their anxiety Total 355 100.0 toward the health situation. We collected data at the beginning of the year 2021. To McElroy et al. (2019) developed a multidimensional be eligible for participation, individuals had to be living measure of cyberchondria called the Cyberchondria in Tunisia and 18 years of age or older. Severity Scale (CSS). This scale consists of 33 items The scales we used were first translated from English to corresponding to five dimensions: (1) excessiveness French and Arabic, then back-translated into English by (repeated nature of online searches), (2) compulsion a third party. The back-translated English version was (web searches interrupting other aspects of on/offline then compared with the original version for modification activities), (3) distress (negative emotional response), and to improve the accuracy of the translation. To test (4) reassurance (seek out professional medical advice), the comprehensibility of the measures, a pretest with 20 and (5) mistrust (conflict arising when medical consumers was conducted. We finalized the professional and online self-diagnosis do not align). The questionnaire based on the results of the pretest. Table 1 scale has been translated and validated in several shows the specific details of the final sample. languages and many studies have validated its structure. Participants included 355 individuals. The sample was In addition, using confirmatory bifactor modeling, Norr predominantly female (58.6%) and the average age in et al. (2015) have demonstrated that the scale measures this sample was between 36 and 45. a general factor, as well as lower-order dimensions. All measurement scales were adopted from established Some replications built on previous suggestions to literature, with question items being adjusted to fit the reduce the length of the scale and to eliminate the last context of the study. Individuals were asked to read dimension (Barke et al., 2016; McElroy et al., 2019). For some statements and indicate the degree to which each the current study, we adopted the short version proposed statement typically applies to them on a five-point by Barke et al. (2016) consists of 15 items (3 items for Likert-type scale ranging from тАЬstrongly disagreeтАЭ to each dimension). However, we followed some of the тАЬstrongly agreeтАЭ. previous suggestions by eliminating the last trust 39 International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2021 ╤Аrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa dimension (McElroy et al., 2019; Norr et al, 2015). The respectively, for each construct (Table 2). Finally tests final list contains 12 items only. of discriminant validity were also acceptable as the The present study uses the new scale of the Fear of squared correlation between every two constructs in the COVID-19 (FC-19S) developed recently by Ahorsu et model was less than the AVE of these two constructs al. (2020). This scale has a stable unidimensional (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). structure with good psychometric properties. Initial Table 2 results indicated that the FCV-19S had good properties Reliability and Convergent Validity Test from different types of testing (i.e., Rasch analysis). The Convergent Composite internal consistency was good as well (╬▒=0.82; Variable validity reliability composite reliability=0.88). (AVE) We measured six hedonic shopping motivations: Excessiveness 0.87 0.761 gratification seeking (GRA), idea shopping (IDE), Compulsiveness 0.93 0.866 adventure seeking (ADV), social shopping (SOC), role play (ROL), and value shopping (VAL), based on Distress 0.89 0.804 Arnold and Reynolds (2003; 2012). This measurement Reassurance 0.91 0.821 was validated in several contexts (Ali et al., 2020; Adventure 0.84 0.717 Horv├бth & Ad─▒g├╝zel, 2018). It contains 18 items; three to each dimension. Gratitude 0.84 0.751 The online shopping enjoyment was measured by a scale Role 0.90 0.766 developed by Babin et al. (1994). This unidimensional Value 0.92 0.813 scale was used in several contexts and had demonstrated Social 0.93 0.878 its validity and its good reliability (╬▒=0.872). We conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFAs) and Idea 0.88 0.831 a structural equation model (SEM) was examined. In Fear 0.94 0.689 this model, cyberchondria factors were considered as Shopping predictors of six hedonic motivations, the fear of 0.95 0.816 enjoyment COVID-19 and the online shopping enjoyment. The CFAs and SEM were conducted in AMOS 23 with We also tested whether CMB was a potential problem Maximum of Likelihood (ML) as an estimation method. following a procedure suggested by Podsakoff et al. We verified first the conditions of the applicability of (2003). A latent construct capturing the common those methods by verifying the outliers, the method variance was added to the measurement model multinormality and the multicollinearity. Bootstrapping and allowed to load on all of the indicators. Results was envisaged as a procedure for dealing with non- indicate that CMB is not a potential threat to the validity normal data (Byrne, 2001), generated confidence of the findings. intervals that were used instead of t-values to evaluate We used AMOS 23 to test our research hypotheses. We the significance of path estimates because the data did tested four alternative models to assess the superiority of not exhibit multivariate normality. Model fit was then our model as we followed prior procedures in well- assessed using the ╧З2 statistic, for which a non- established works (Bajaj et al., 2016; Diallo & Seck, significant value indicates good model fit. In addition, 2018): the hypothesized structural model, a direct other fit indices were interpreted to provide an model, and two full mediation models. The approximate estimate of the model fit. Specifically, we hypothesized structural model (Model 1) fit the data checked the comparative fit index (CFI), the Tucker- well overall (╧З2=2929.480; df=706; p=0.000; Lewis Index (TLI), and the root mean square error of NFI=0.824; IFI=0.860; TLI=0.836; and CFI=0.859; approximation (RMSEA). RMSEA=0.094). For the direct effect of cyberchondria on online Results shopping enjoyment (Model 2), results show that three First, our results indicate that more than 70% of the of the four cyberchondria dimensions were positively sample reported experiencing high or moderate levels of affecting online shopping enjoyment. The health-related cyberchondria. Mean item analysis showed that going anxiety that cyberchondriac express influence positively online to search for symptoms often disrupts their time their online shopping experiences. This could reinforce spent not only on leisure activities but also on their the hypothesis supposing that during this pandemic, work. Participants showed difficulty in controlling their online shopping is considered as one of the main ruminations regarding symptoms that they have solutions for anxious people. Results of testing the researched online. second hypothesis (H2a-d) are presented in Model 2 The data indicated that the measurement model (Figure 2). exhibited an acceptable fit (╧З2=2857.269; df=699; For mediating effect of hedonic shopping motivations p=0.000; CFI=0.863; NFI=0.828; TLI=0.840; (Model 3), we followed current trends in mediation RMSEA=0.093). Tests of convergent validity were analysis (Preacher et al., 2007; Zhao et al., 2010) and acceptable as the composite reliability and the average examined the direct and indirect effects of variance extracted (AVE) both exceeded the cyberchondria through conditional process analysis. recommended minimum cutoff of 0.7 and 0.5, More precisely, in a third model, we tested a full 40 International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2021 ╤Аrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa mediation model (no direct effect on online shopping the effect of cyberchondria on hedonic shopping enjoyment and everything is mediated by hedonic motivations (Table 3). shopping motivations). These analyses also established Figure 2 Testing the Direct Effect of Cyberchondria on Online Shopping Enjoyment (Model 2) Excessiveness ╬╗=0.129** Compulsiveness ╬╗=0.289*** Online shopping ╬╗=0.190*** enjoyment Reassurance NS Distress Note. ***sig=0.000; **sig<0.010. Table 3 Testing the Mediating Effect of Hedonic Shopping Motivations (Model 3) The tested hypothesis Hypothesis Estimate Standardized RW P ADV <--- EXC H1aa-H1af 0.057 0.074 0.286 GRA <--- EXC 0.446 0.415 *** ROL <--- EXC 0.008 0.008 0.905 VAL <--- EXC -0.058 -0.069 0.271 SOC <--- EXC 0.075 0.066 0.282 IDE <--- EXC 0.081 0.081 0.202 ADV <--- COM H1ba-H1bf -0.089 -0.137 0.032 GRA <--- COM 0.098 0.110 0.037 ROL <--- COM 0.060 0.072 0.252 VAL <--- COM -0.267 -0.384 *** SOC <--- COM -0.452 -0.472 *** IDE <--- COM -0.036 -0.044 0.455 ADV <--- DIS H1ca-H1cf 0.122 0.171 0.014 GRA <--- DIS 0.247 0.251 *** ROL <--- DIS -0.007 -0.008 0.912 VAL <--- DIS 0.126 0.165 0.010 SOC <--- DIS 0.356 0.338 *** IDE <--- DIS 0.334 0.365 *** ADV <--- REA H1da-H1df 0.048 0.074 0.231 GRA <--- REA -0.163 -0.182 *** ROL <--- REA -0.190 -0.226 *** VAL <--- REA 0.175 0.253 *** SOC <--- REA -0.008 -0.008 0.882 IDE <--- REA -0.097 -0.117 0.039 SHOPENJ <--- ADV H5a-d 0.237 0.164 0.010 SHOPENJ <--- GRA 0.361 0.344 *** SHOPENJ <--- ROL -0.146 -0.131 0.008 SHOPENJ <--- VAL -0.306 -0.226 *** SHOPENJ <--- SOC -0.033 -0.034 0.538 SHOPENJ <--- IDE 0.043 0.038 0.494 Note. ***sig=0.000. 41 International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2021 ╤Аrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa Results were so varied. First, the distress showed a (exception for a positive and significant impact on value positive and significant effect on hedonic shopping motivation). motivations (exception of the role dimension). In When it comes to the impact of hedonic shopping addition, the excessiveness showed only a strong effect motivations on online shopping enjoyment, results also on the gratitude dimension of hedonic shopping seem to be mixed. Seeking gratification and adventure motivation. Both of these effects confirm the proposed leads to online shopping enjoyment. However, as hypothesis supposing a positive effect of cyberchondria bargaining hunters, these shoppers cannot find pleasure on the hedonic shopping motivations. This confirms in the online context. partially the fact that excessive health-related anxiety The fourth model (Model 4) was a second full mediation and its relative distress may lead to a search for reducing model (no direct effect on online shopping enjoyment the stress and for releasing the pressure. However, the and everything is mediated by the COVID-19 fear). This compulsiveness showed a significant and negative effect model had demonstrated a significant mediating effect on the adventure, social and value motivations in the of fear (standardized total effect=0.867; p=0.000). The shopping. This was also the case of reassurance which cyberchondria has also a strong direct effect on COVID- showed a negative impact on gratitude, role and idea 19 fear (e.g. ╬╗ excessiveness on the fear=0.381; p=0.000) (Table 4, Table 5). Table 4 The Impact of Cyberchondria on the Fear from COVID-19 The tested hypothesis Hypothesis Estimates Standardized RW P FEAR <--- EXC H4a 0.469 0.381 *** FEAR <--- COM H4b 0.227 0.224 *** FEAR <--- DIS H4c 0.329 0.294 *** FEAR <--- REA H4d 0.064 0.063 0.149 SHOPENJ <--- FEAR H5 0.608 0.658 *** Note. ***sig=0.000. Table 5 Testing the Mediating Effect of Fear of COVID-19 (Model 4) The Mediating effect DIS COM EXC REA FEAR Standardized FEAR 0.182*** 0.109*** 0.270*** -0.009* тАУ direct effects SHOPENJ тАУ тАУ тАУ тАУ 0.597*** Standardized SHOPENJ 0.121*** 0.072*** 0.179*** -0.006* тАУ indirect effects Note. ***sig=0.000; *sig<0.050. The model estimates the interactive effect of Discussion cyberchondria and COVID-19 fear on online shopping Our results indicate that during the current pandemic, enjoyment (H4 a, b, c and d) while controlling for the cyberchondria is becoming a fact as it occurs among non- direct effect of each variable. A bootstrapping technique clinically diagnosed people. Regarding potential effects was used to calculate confidence intervals around on consumersтАЩ behavior, this study was the first to find indirect effect estimates, with confidence intervals that that the cyberchondria was associated with an increased exclude zero providing evidence of a mediation effect online shopping enjoyment guided both by a developed (Preacher & Hayes, 2008; Zhao et al., 2010). fear from this virus and hedonic motivations. In The results from each analysis are presented in Table 5. particular, this study found strong and positive The table is organized such that the direct and interactive correlations between the cyberchondria and the fear from effects of cyberchondria and COVID-19 fear on online COVID-19. However, only two dimensions could be shopping enjoyment are shown first. considered as antecedents for hedonic shopping Study results support H4 and H5, as the cyberchondria motivations namely the distress and the excessiveness. and COVID-19 fear interaction have a positive and To reduce the general health anxiety and the excessive significant effect on online shopping enjoyment (see worry about onesтАЩ health, these findings may indicate Table 5). This indicates that during the current COVID- starting points for some business and marketing 19 pandemic, the relationship between COVID-19 fear interventions in times of a virus outbreak. Commercial and online shopping enjoyment grows significantly websites provide messages regarding the free of risk stronger as individuals are becoming more anxious about context that they are offering during the COVID-19 their health. To conclude, we may assume that online crisis. Cyberchondriacs may use them to acquire shopping enjoyment is mainly guided by fear rather than effective emotional coping. Furthermore, in order to hedonic shopping motivations (avoidance rather than demonstrate that online shopping may be considered as a approaching). Consumers are going online guided by the safe space, where anxious people may escape, businesses fear to be contaminated and by searching for a safer should elucidate clear pathways of action so that shopping context. consumers feel empowered to tackle the pandemic 42 International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2021 ╤Аrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa effectively. This study may present online shopping as a coping repertoire of cyberchondriacs. To the best of our relief from the psychological distress and the fear knowledge, there are currently no specific business associated with COVID-19 threatening both individual solutions for cyberchondria. Our findings of relationships psychological wellbeing and public health outcomes. between fear of COVID-19, hedonic shopping In addition, cyberchondriacs indeed show their motivations, online shopping enjoyment and motivations toward hedonic shopping experiences. But, cyberchondria shed light on potential interventions that surprisingly, hedonic shopping motivations appear to need to be verified. Recently, it was argued that the contribute differently to online shopping enjoyment. cyberchondria, and intention to self-isolate increased Gratification seeking was found to be the key hedonic intention to make unusual purchases (Laato et al., 2020). motivation contributing to enjoying online shopping, However, although retail sales increased during the early whereas in emerging markets such as Tunisia, bargaining stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, an overall decrease hunting had a negative effect on it. Taking into in the use of recreational services was observed. This consideration these results, public health communicators change in consumer activity is forcing recreational and marketers should highlight further the power of services providers to quickly adapt their business to the shopping in terms of mood repair and stress and health new circumstances. This study proposes using online anxiety release. However, should carefully observe this shopping as an emotional regulation tool that may reduce health-related distress that may lead to the adoption of health related anxiety and may increase overall mental some critical behaviors such as online impulsive well-being. This will then provide some important shopping behavior. information for businesses and health organisms to tackle Our study had several strengths. To the best of our these mental health-related issues in response to other knowledge, it was one of the first studies to investigate similar societal disasters. This will be a call for future the impact of the cyberchondria on shopping experiences research to investigate the alternative ways to increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is particularly enjoyment and to reach new consumer enchantment as important, as this study serves as some of the first data this traumatic stress could lead to the development of about the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 avoidance behaviors or passive lifestyles after the pandemic. However, our study suffers from some pandemic (Zhang & Ma, 2020). limitations. The first could be associated with the The cyberchondria led by the COVID-19 pandemic may convenience sampling method which may limit the be temporary and have less impact on consumersтАЩ generalization of our findings. behavior as these later will be familiarized with the health Another limitation should be mentioned. The recruitment information overload and with the overall situation. In procedure may induce some responsesтАЩ bias. Being addition, cultural differences and social influence may limited to online recruitment, particularly from social play a crucial role during this period. An avenue of future media communities, may limit the validity of our results research could be testing this model in different cultural to people with a high level of Internet familiarity. As our contexts and extending the research model by including outcome variables are usually depending on the product social influence forces. Accordingly, scholars are category, the generalizability of the result is also encouraged to take opportunities to collect empirical data questionable if we consider some product category on purchasing experiences to further expand our differences. Testing the proposed cyberchondria model knowledge on consumersтАЩ behavior during catastrophic in a specific domain will surely offer more reliable situations. results. In addition to the method, the timing also may create Conclusions some problems in interpretations and managerial The consequences measured in the current work were recommendations. This study was conducted during a pic some among other effects of mental health on consumersтАЩ of virus spread and a total panic was recorded during the shopping attitudes. Mental wellbeing still faces data collection period. It would be interesting to examine considerable challenges, taking into consideration the the cyberchondria after the storm to evaluate how far the long-term drawbacks of the current pandemic. It is more consequences are persisting. It would be beneficial to than necessary to promote social acceptability and to conduct further longitudinal research into the afford a digital context in which cyberchondriacs may psychological and cognitive impact of cyberchondria as have an anxiety relief context. it continues to persist, as well as its consequences on the shopping experience. Our cross-sectional study needs to Ethical Approval be completed by experimental methods that would be The study protocol was consistent with the ethical advantageous to test the proposed causality relations. guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki as Furthermore, the survey responses were self-reported reflected in a prior approval by the InstitutionтАЩs Human data. Thus, empirical observations and data from Research Committee. recreational services providers could be used to support these findings. Funding Source Another priority for future research should be to clarify This research did not receive any outside funding or the relationships between cyberchondria and other support. coping strategies adopted to reduce distress or seek reassurance. This will improve our understanding of the 43 International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2021 ╤Аrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa References variables and measurement error. 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(2021). тАЬLooking for fun or escaping the fear?тАЭ How can COVID-19 cyberchondriacs enjoy the online shopping during the pandemic. International Journal of Science Annals, 4(2), 37тАУ45. https://doi.org/10.26697/ijsa.2021.2.4 The electronic version of this article is complete. It can be found online in the IJSA Archive https://ijsa.culturehealth.org/en/arhiv This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en). 45