What is it about?
PM2.5 is a very small air pollutant that can harm people’s health. This study explains why people decide to look for information about PM2.5 air pollution. Based on a survey in Java, Indonesia, the findings show that people are more likely to seek PM2.5 information when they believe it is useful, when people around them encourage it, and when they feel able to find and understand the information. These intentions then lead to more active information-seeking behaviour. The study suggests that public communication about air pollution should make PM2.5 information simple, accessible, and socially encouraged so people can better protect themselves and their families.
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Why is it important?
This work is timely because PM2.5 pollution is increasingly recognised as a daily health risk in Indonesian cities, yet many people still struggle to understand when and how to use air-quality information. Its uniqueness lies in treating information seeking itself as an important preventive behaviour, not merely as background knowledge. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the study shows that people are more likely to look for PM2.5 information when they believe it is useful, feel social encouragement, and feel capable of finding and interpreting reliable information. This shifts attention from simply providing pollution data to understanding what motivates people to actively use it. The findings can help public health agencies, environmental communicators, educators, and digital platform designers create clearer, more socially relevant, and easier-to-use messages. In practice, the study supports communication strategies that empower communities to make better everyday decisions about air pollution exposure.
Perspectives
I see this publication as more than a study about PM2.5 information seeking. For me, it reflects a broader concern about how people in Indonesia make sense of environmental health risks that are often invisible but deeply consequential. PM2.5 is not always immediately felt, yet it can shape everyday decisions about mobility, outdoor activities, and family health. What interests me most is the communicative dimension: people need not only access to air-quality data, but also motivation, confidence, and social support to use that information meaningfully. This study therefore speaks to my wider interest in health and environmental risk communication, especially how communication can help people move from awareness to protective action. I hope this work encourages more practical, theory-based communication strategies that make air pollution information easier to understand, more relevant, and more useful for the public.
Kholidil Amin
Universitas Diponegoro
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Why do people seek information about PM2.5 air pollution? A theory of planned behaviour perspective, Jurnal Kajian Komunikasi, December 2025, Universitas Padjadjaran,
DOI: 10.24198/jkk.v13i2.68449.
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