Pathway Linking Internet Health Information Seeking to Better Health: A Moderated Mediation Study

• In Event: Online Health Information and Behavioral Intentions

Abstract

The Internet has increasingly been recognized as an important medium in terms of population health. However, little is known about the mechanism that underlies the impact of health-related Internet use on health outcomes. Based on Street’s (2003) three-stage model of health promotion using interactive media, this study empirically tested a moderated mediation model. Results showed that the effect of Internet health information seeking on three health outcomes (general, emotional, and physical) was completely mediated by social support. In addition, users’ online health information seeking experience positively moderated this mediation path. When people had more positive usage experience, the impact of Internet health information seeking on health outcomes would be stronger (through the mediator of social support). The findings extend the three-stage model of health promotion using interactive media by testing a moderated mediation model, and provide significant practical implications for the design of Internet-based health promotion.

Author

• Shaohai Jiang, Texas A and M University