4.5. Magnitude and Strength of Mediation
To determine whether H4b, H5b, H3c, and H4c are supported, we used the proposals by Hair et al. [85]. To finalize conclusions about the mediation effect; we calculated the amount and magnitude of mediation. We incorporated the variance accounted for (VAF) method to calculate the strength of mediation (Figure 5 and Figure 6). If VAF is less than 0.2, there is no mediation; if VAF is less than or equal to 0.8, there is a partial mediation; if VAF is greater than 0.8, there is full mediation. The magnitude and strength of epidemic protection (H4b: a1b1) and attitude toward epidemic outbreak (H5b: a2b2) mediated the association between the role of E-Govt and online social presence (Figure 5). We found via comparison that epidemic protection has a partial mediation effect on the role of E-Govt and online social presence because the VAF value was more than 0.2, which indicated that there is a partial mediation effect. As such, H4b is supported. Attitude toward epidemic outbreaks mediated the association between 2019-nCoV-WOM and online social presence; the VAF value was greater than 0.2, which indicated the presence of mediation. Therefore, we hypothesized imaginary harmonizing partial mediation because the effects of 2019-nCoV-WOMwere considerable both directly and indirectly and their products were positive [99].
Hair et al. [85] Concluded that complementary and competitive mediation can be differentiated if direct and indirect effects are more prominent. The condition in which direct and indirect effects work in the same direction is called complementary mediation. This means the outcome of the direct and indirect effect is positive. The magnitude and strength of the mediation effect of epidemic protection (H3c: a3b1) and attitude toward epidemic outbreak (H4c: a4b2) mediating the association of 2019-nCoV-WOMand online social presence is shown in Figure 6. In comparison, the VAF value was higher than 0.2, which indicated the presence and effect of mediation. Due to the prominent direct and indirect effects of 2019-nCoV-WOM, the complementary partial mediation was also positive. The comparison showed that the association between 2019-nCoV-WOM and online social presence was mediated by attitude toward epidemic outbreak. The VAF value was higher than 0.2, which indicated partial mediation, also supporting the multi-mediation hypothesis [99].