Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore , Singapore.
School of Media and Communication, Shenzhen University , Shenzhen, China.
J Health Commun. 2020 Apr 2;25(4):291-300. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2020.1746868. Epub 2020 Apr 7.
Given the myriad of media channels and available health information, it is important to investigate how health consumers navigate and choose from multiple media channels in seeking health information and their preferences among different media sources. Previous research has routinely measured health information-seeking behavior (HISB), especially online health information seeking as a whole, which does not capture the complexity and diversity of media channels used in HISB. On the basis of the channel complementarity theory, this study further classified new media into search engines, social media, and mobile health applications. The results of a secondary analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey in China (HINTS-China) reinforced the occurrence of media complementary between information-oriented media (newspapers and magazines) and entertainment-oriented media (television). In addition, people used traditional media complementarily with new media, except information-oriented media and search engine use exhibited a displacement relationship. Moreover, the results indicated different profiles of health information seekers varied according to the diverse media channels, although media trust, perceived poor health status, chronic disease, and family cancer history consistently propelled HISB for both online and offline media channels. Implications for theory and practice for health communication were discussed.
鉴于媒体渠道和可用健康信息的多样性，重要的是要研究健康消费者如何在寻求健康信息时从多个媒体渠道中进行导航和选择，以及他们对不同媒体来源的偏好。先前的研究通常会衡量健康信息搜索行为 (HISB)，尤其是整体的在线健康信息搜索，而这并不能捕捉 HISB 中使用的媒体渠道的复杂性和多样性。基于渠道互补性理论，本研究进一步将新媒体分为搜索引擎、社交媒体和移动健康应用程序。对中国健康信息国家趋势调查 (HINTS-China) 的二次分析结果证实了信息导向媒体（报纸和杂志）和娱乐导向媒体（电视）之间存在媒体互补性。此外，人们除了信息导向媒体和搜索引擎的使用呈现替代关系外，还会互补性地使用传统媒体和新媒体。此外，尽管媒体信任、健康状况不佳、慢性病和家族癌症史始终推动在线和离线媒体渠道的 HISB，但结果表明，根据不同的媒体渠道，健康信息搜索者具有不同的特征。讨论了对健康传播的理论和实践的启示。
