Effects of Online Physician Reviews and Physician Gender on Perceptions of Physician Skills and Primary Care Physician (PCP) Selection

• In Event: HIGH-DENSITY: Cognitive Processing, Social Influence, and Social Networks

Abstract

Physician review websites have become more relevant and important in people’s selection of physicians. The current study experimentally examined how online physician reviews about a primary care physician’s (PCP) technical or interpersonal skills, along with a physician’s gender, may influence people’s perceptions of the physician’s skills and their willingness to choose the physician. The results suggested that people’s willingness to choose a PCP was affected by physician reviews through their influence on people’s perceptions of a PCP’s technical and interpersonal skills. More importantly, this study found that if physician reviews endorsed a PCP’s technical skills, people perceived a female PCP to be more interpersonally competent than a male PCP and thus were more likely to choose the female PCP. The gender bias, however, was not extended to perceptions of a PCP’s technical skills. Practical implications for health providers and consumers were discussed.

Authors

• Siyue Li, School of Communication - The Ohio State University

• Roselyn J. Lee-Won, The Ohio State U

• Jessica McKnight, Ohio State U