Department of Communication Studies, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, USA.
J Health Commun. 2011 Jan;16(1):34-49. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2010.529491.
The past few decades have witnessed a dramatic increase in consumers seeking health information online. However, the quality of such information remains questionable, and the trustworthiness of online health information has become a hot topic, whereas little attention has been paid to how consumers evaluate online health information credibility. This study builds on theoretical perspectives of trust such as personal-capital-based, social-capital-based, and transfer-based, and it examines various correlates of consumer trust in online health information. The author analyzed the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey data (N = 7,674). Results showed that consumer trust in online health information did not correlate with personal capital such as income, education, and health status. Social capital indicated by visiting social networking Web sites was not associated with trust in online health information either. Nevertheless, trust in online health information transferred from traditional mass media and government health agencies to the Internet, and it varied by such information features as easiness to locate and to understand. Age appeared to be a key factor in understanding the correlates of trust in online health information. Theoretical and empirical implications of the results are discussed.
在过去的几十年中，越来越多的消费者在网上寻求健康信息。然而，这些信息的质量仍然值得怀疑，网络健康信息的可信度已成为热门话题，而对于消费者如何评估网络健康信息的可信度却关注甚少。本研究基于信任的理论视角，如基于个人资本、基于社会资本和基于转移的视角，考察了消费者对网络健康信息信任的各种相关因素。作者分析了 2007 年健康信息国家趋势调查数据（N=7674）。结果表明，消费者对网络健康信息的信任与个人资本（如收入、教育和健康状况）无关。通过访问社交网站所表示的社会资本也与对网络健康信息的信任无关。然而，对传统大众媒体和政府卫生机构的网络健康信息的信任可以转移，并且它因信息的易定位和易理解等特征而有所不同。年龄似乎是理解对网络健康信息信任的相关因素的关键因素。讨论了结果的理论和实证意义。
