Tailai Wu1, Zhaohua Deng2, Donglan Zhang3, Paula R Buchanan4, Dongqing Zha5, Ruoxi Wang6. 1. School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: lncle2012@yahoo.com. 2. School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: zh-deng@hust.edu.cn. 3. Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States. Electronic address: dzhang@uga.edu. 4. Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States. Electronic address: prbuga@uga.edu. 5. Department of Nephrology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Hubei Province, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: 26763798@qq.com. 6. School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: ruoxiwang@hust.edu.cn.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate how doctor-consumer interaction in social media influences consumers' health information seeking and usage intention. METHODS: Based on professional-client interaction theory and expectation confirmation theory, we propose that doctor-consumer interaction can be divided into instrumental interaction and affective interaction. These two types of interaction influence consumers' health information seeking and usage intention through consumer satisfaction and trust towards doctors. To validate our proposed research model, we employed the survey method. The measurement instruments for all constructs were developed based on previous literatures, and 352 valid answers were collected by using these instruments. RESULTS: Our results reveal that consumers' intention to seek health information significantly predicts their intention to use health information from social media. Meanwhile, both consumer satisfaction and trust towards doctors influences consumers' health information seeking and usage intention significantly. With regards to the impact of the interaction between doctors and consumers, the results show that both types of doctor-consumer interaction significantly affect consumer satisfaction and trust towards doctors. The mediation analysis confirms the mediation role of consumer satisfaction and trust towards doctors. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with many intentional intervention programs, doctor-consumer interaction can be treated as an effective intervention with low cost to promote consumers' health information seeking and usage. Meanwhile, both instrumental and affective interaction should be highlighted for the best interaction results. At last, consumer satisfaction and trust towards doctors could be considered as the important working mechanisms for the effect of doctor-consumer interaction.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate how doctor-consumer interaction in social media influences consumers' health information seeking and usage intention. METHODS: Based on professional-client interaction theory and expectation confirmation theory, we propose that doctor-consumer interaction can be divided into instrumental interaction and affective interaction. These two types of interaction influence consumers' health information seeking and usage intention through consumer satisfaction and trust towards doctors. To validate our proposed research model, we employed the survey method. The measurement instruments for all constructs were developed based on previous literatures, and 352 valid answers were collected by using these instruments. RESULTS: Our results reveal that consumers' intention to seek health information significantly predicts their intention to use health information from social media. Meanwhile, both consumer satisfaction and trust towards doctors influences consumers' health information seeking and usage intention significantly. With regards to the impact of the interaction between doctors and consumers, the results show that both types of doctor-consumer interaction significantly affect consumer satisfaction and trust towards doctors. The mediation analysis confirms the mediation role of consumer satisfaction and trust towards doctors. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with many intentional intervention programs, doctor-consumer interaction can be treated as an effective intervention with low cost to promote consumers' health information seeking and usage. Meanwhile, both instrumental and affective interaction should be highlighted for the best interaction results. At last, consumer satisfaction and trust towards doctors could be considered as the important working mechanisms for the effect of doctor-consumer interaction.
Authors: Paulina Majek; Mateusz Jankowski; Bartłomiej Nowak; Maksymilian Macherski; Maciej Nowak; Aleksandra Gil; Piotr Nakiela; Barbara Lewicka; Joshua Allan Lawson; Jan Eugeniusz Zejda; Grzegorz Marek Brożek Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-03-24 Impact factor: 3.390