Communication in times of crisis: Information flow among Chinese hog producers during the African swine fever outbreak

The outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) had an enormous economic and social impact on Chinese hog producers. Using a face‐to‐face survey with hog farmers from two regions of China, Chongqing, and Hebei, this research investigated how social influence affects producers’ behavior under disease outbreak using social network analysis. It was analyzed how information flows during an epidemic, such as ASF. Results indicate that hog producers used phone and text more frequently to communicate during the epidemic than before. Face‐to‐face meetings with other hog producers and sales agents decreased during the ASF epidemic—potentially leading to isolation. Moreover, the frequency of face‐to‐face meetings with veterinarians decreased for farmers living in a village in Hebei but remained the same for hog producers in Chongqing. This suggests that the desire to have less face‐to‐face meetings was being replaced with the demand for more help regarding hog health from veterinarians when hog producers lived farther away from each other compared to those living closer together. Employing a random effect ordered probit model, these results were further validated, showing that hog producers dramatically reduced their communication frequency with others after the outbreak of ASF. Findings provide insights into how information flows and how actors communicate during a situation of crisis. [EconLit Citations: D71, D85, Q12, Q18].