Online Health Information Seeking and Preventative Health Actions: Cross-Generational Online Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: The popularity of online health information seeking (OHIS) has increased significantly owing to its accessibility and affordability. To facilitate better health management, it is essential to comprehend the generational differences in OHIS behavior and preventative health actions after seeking online health information (OHI). OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the variations in OHIS and engagement in preventative health actions between 2 generations based on their technology use (digital natives [aged 18-42 years] and digital immigrants [aged ≥43 years]). Additionally, this research explores the mediating role of OHIS types on the generational effect on preventative health actions and the moderating role of OHI search frequency, gender, and the presence of chronic diseases on the generational effect on OHIS types and preventative health actions. METHODS: A preregistered online survey was conducted on the Prolific online data collection platform using stratified sampling of 2 generations (digital natives and digital immigrants) from the United States in November 2023. Overall, 3 types of OHIS were collected: health wellness information search, health guidance information search, and health management information search. A 1-way analysis of covariance tested the generational differences in types of OHIS and preventative health actions, and a 2-way analysis of covariance tested the moderating role of OHIS search frequency, gender, and the presence of chronic diseases using 7 control variables. The PROCESS Macro Model 4 was used to conduct mediation analyses, testing OHI search types as mediators. Linear regression analyses tested age as a predictor of OHIS and preventative health actions. RESULTS: The analysis of 1137 responses revealed generational differences in OHIS. Digital natives searched for health wellness information more frequently (P<.001), whereas digital immigrants searched for health guidance (P<.001) and health management information (P=.001) more frequently. There were no significant differences between the 2 generations regarding preventative health actions (P=.85). Moreover, all 3 types of OHIS mediated the relationship between generational differences and preventative health actions. Furthermore, as people aged, they searched for significantly less health wellness information (P<.001) and more health guidance (P<.001), and health management information (P=.003). Age was not a significant predictor of preventative health actions (P=.48). The frequency of OHI searches did not moderate the effect of generations on OHIS types and preventative health actions. Gender only moderated the relationship between generation and health guidance information search (P=.02), and chronic diseases only moderated the relationship between generation and health wellness information search (P=.03). CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to explore how 2 digital generations vary in terms of searching for OHI and preventative health behaviors. As the older adult population grows, it is crucial to understand their OHIS behavior and how they engage in preventative health actions to enhance their quality of life.

Preference for imperfect produce: The influence of political ideology and openness to experience.

Food waste is a critical global issue, posing substantial environmental, social, and financial challenges, even as millions continue to face uncertainty regarding their next meal source. The seriousness of this problem necessitates a closer look into ways to reduce food waste. In this investigation, we identify a key factor which contributes to food waste-imperfect fruits and vegetables (FaVs), defined as foods that are non-uniform in shape, color, or texture. Because of their unusual and sometimes ugly appearance, people are often averse to buying them, making it important to understand factors that influence people's acceptance or rejection of imperfect FaVs. Across four online studies (including an exploratory study) with nearly 1400 U.S. respondents and using varied designs, we test political ideology as a moderator of this aversion to imperfect FaVs. Our findings indicate that politically conservative people are less likely to purchase imperfect FaVs (vs. perfect FaVs) compared to politically liberal people. The last study also uncovers the psychological mechanism underlying this greater aversion to FaVs by conservatives: lower openness to experience explains why this segment of population may be less willing to purchase imperfect FaVs. Implications and future research directions are discussed.