ABSTRACT
This paper analyzed the current situation and research hotspots of user information behavior in online health communities in China, a study of practical and theoretical significance for relevant scholars to learn the forefront of user behavior research in online health communities and better engage in related research. Thanks to literature review, this paper analyzed the research status of user information behavior in online health communities in China, and summarized the main research hotspots. Generally speaking, the research results of user behavior in online health communities in China were rich in volume, yet there remained a gap between China and foreign researches in the depth of research and the breadth of research objects.Future research should focus on making up for these deficiencies.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the determinants and mechanism of trust transfer among patients for online health websites using the equation model. Methods A trust transfer model was built based on the theory of group convergence and doctor-patient interaction. 225 doctor records of online consultations were collected from Haodf, an online health website by data crawling from May 1 to Nov.30, 2017. Multiple regression was used for an empirical analysis. Results The patients' online trust has a positive impact on the physicians'trust offline, with a regression coefficient of 0.94, being significant at the level 0.01. Patient incentives, group size, and frequency of group interaction are important for online patient trust. Meanwhile, patient motivation, group size, and patient online efforts all have significant effect on patient offline trust. Conclusions Online patients' trust affects their offline trust significantly. Developers of online health websites can increase the online trust of patients by motivation and interaction, which help create a desirable medical environment and encourage their trust to offline doctors, contributing to higher medical satisfaction.