Examining Knowledge as a Motivation for Attention to Breast Cancer–Related Information Across Different Media

Abstract

This study investigates motivations of attention to breast cancer–related information across different media, including factual knowledge, structural knowledge, and risk perception based on the cognitive learning process. Structural equation modeling is used to test the impacts of factual knowledge and structural knowledge on Singaporean women’s attention to media messages about breast cancer, with risk perception of the disease as a mediating factor. The results indicate that structural knowledge raises women’s perception of risk, which in turn is positively associated with their attention to reports about breast cancer in newspapers, on television, and on the Internet. Factual knowledge about breast cancer has no significant association with women’s perception of risk. In terms of theoretical and practical implications, this study highlights the role of knowledge in affecting individuals’ media attention rather than testing how media attention affects knowledge acquisition, and it suggests that practitioners should put more effort into cultivating women’s structural knowledge about breast cancer.