Thon Franziska M, Jucks Regina
a Institute of Psychology for Education, University of Muenster.
Health Commun. 2017 Jul;32(7):828-836. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2016.1172296. Epub 2016 Jul 28.
Today, many people use the Internet to seek health advice. This study examines how an author's expertise is established and how this affects the credibility of his or her online health information. In a 2 (authors' credentials: medical vs. nonmedical) × 2 (authors' language use: technical vs. every day) within-subjects design, 127 study participants, or "seekers," judged authors' expertise, benevolence, and integrity as well as the credibility of their medical statements. In addition, we assessed seekers' awareness of their own knowledge and behavior. Results revealed that users consciously rewarded authors' credentials and subconsciously punished technical language. Seekers were keenly aware of authors' credentials and perceived authors with medical credentials to have a higher level of expertise and their information to be more credible. Technical language use negatively affected authors' integrity and the credibility of their health information, despite seekers being unaware of it. Practical implications for health communication and implications for future research are outlined.
如今，许多人通过互联网寻求健康建议。本研究探讨了作者的专业知识是如何确立的，以及这如何影响其在线健康信息的可信度。在一项2（作者资质：医学专业与非医学专业）×2（作者语言使用：专业术语与日常用语）的被试内设计中，127名研究参与者，即“寻求者”，对作者的专业知识、善意和正直程度以及他们医学陈述的可信度进行了评判。此外，我们评估了寻求者对自身知识和行为的认知。结果显示，用户会有意识地看重作者的资质，下意识地排斥专业术语。寻求者敏锐地意识到作者的资质，并认为具有医学资质的作者专业水平更高，其信息更可信。尽管寻求者并未意识到这一点，但专业术语的使用对作者的正直形象及其健康信息的可信度产生了负面影响。本文概述了对健康传播的实际意义以及对未来研究的意义。
