Online health information seeking among women: the moderating role of health consciousness
| Date | 12 February 2018 |
| Published date | 12 February 2018 |
| Pages | 58-72 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-02-2016-0066 |
| Author | Ashraf Sadat Ahadzadeh,Saeed Pahlevan Sharif,Fon Sim Ong |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
Online health information seeking
among women: the moderating
role of health consciousness
Ashraf Sadat Ahadzadeh
Department of Mass Communication, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Saeed Pahlevan Sharif
Bussiness School, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya, Malaysia, and
Fon Sim Ong
Business School, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is two fold: to test the moderating effect of health consciousness (HC) on
the influence of attitude towards internet (AI) internet usage for health information seeking (IHI) behaviour;
and examine whether HC moderates the influence of perceived health risk (PHR) on the internet usage for
health information which is mediated by perceived usefulness of internet (PUI) and AI usage in an integrated
model underpinned by health belief model and the technology acceptance model.
Design/methodology/approach –Data obtained for the current study were collected using convenience
sampling and the sample consisted of women who not only have internet access but used the internet in their
daily life. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) method was used to test the
research hypotheses developed from a sample of 270 respondents.
Findings –Findings revealed that HC moderates the influence of AI use for health information seeking.
In addition, the results also showed that the positive indirect effect of PHR on IHI through PUI and AI usage is
significant for high level of HC but not for the medium and low levels of HC.
Originality/value –Major contribution of this study is in the testing of the moderating role of HC on the
mediating effect of perceived usefulness of the internet and attitude on PHR and IHI.
Keywords Technology acceptance model, Health belief model, Health consciousness,
Moderated mediation effect, Online health information seeking
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
People have become increasingly reliant on the internet as a means of obtaining relevant
information to aid decision making in various aspects of their daily lives, including health
matters (Fox and Duggan, 2013; Fox and Jones, 2009; Laurent and Vickers, 2009).
Evidence in the literature suggests that women demonstrate more online health information
seeking behaviour compared to men (Fox and Duggan, 2013; Fox and Jones, 2009).
In Malaysia, using the internet to manage health and to learn more about diseases has
become increasingly important (Mohan and Razali Raja Yaacob, 2004) due to the increasing
prevalence of chronic diseases, in particular among women (Amal et al., 2011). Although the
number of male internet users is higher than female users, women are the dominant internet
users in terms of health information seeking (Komathi and Maimunah, 2009).
To date, several studies have investigated internet usage for health information seeking
(IHI) behaviour among women by employing the technology acceptance model (TAM)
(Dillard et al., 2010; Lim et al., 2011; Wilson and Lankton, 2004; Wong et al., 2012). However, a
recent study took one step further and proposed the use of an integrated model of TAM and
health belief model (HBM) to overcome the parsimonious/limitations of TAM and HBM
and also to provide a better explanation of the mechanism that brings about internet health
information seeking behaviour (Ahadzadeh et al., 2015). Ahadzadeh et al. (2015) sought to
Online Information Review
Vol. 42 No. 1, 2018
pp. 58-72
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-02-2016-0066
Received 27 February 2016
Revised 28 May 2017
Accepted 1 June 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
58
OIR
42,1
To continue reading
Request your trial