Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking: A Meta-Analysis

AbstractThe comprehensive model of information seeking (CMIS) is a well-known framework to predict health information seeking by a combination of health beliefs and medium-related factors. Despite being proposed almost three decades ago, few efforts have been made to systematically summarize CMIS scholarship. To fill this gap in the literature, 36 meta-analyses were first conducted to identify the bivariate relationships between variables in the CMIS. These meta-analytic data were then used to test path models evaluating the role of health beliefs and medium-related factors. The results showed that the models containing only factors related to the communication medium, only health factors, and a modified version of the CMIS fit the data relatively well. The original CMIS did not demonstrate an acceptable model fit. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Supplemental dataSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2023.2214097.Additional informationFundingThe author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.