Doctor's effort influence on online reputation and popularity

Abstract

This research examines why doctors participate in online activities and how they fully use online effort. We identify two dimensions of effort, i.e., online healthcare community function breadth (OHCFB), the number of different online functions used, and online healthcare community function depth (OHCFD), the degree of involvement with use of special online functions. We examine the effect of these two dimensions of online effort on doctor's online reputation and popularity and the impact of interaction between OHCFB and OHCFD. The study has three major findings: a) doctor's effort can increase their reputation and popularity, b) doctors with a low title have the potential to overcome shortcomings to increase popularity if they give special attention to a few select functions; however, doctors with a high title should try to expand the number of functions, and c) the interaction effect between OHCFB and OHCFD manifests differently across reputation and popularity. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.