Seeking and sharing health information on social media: A net valence model and cross-cultural comparison

Abstract

In the past few years, social media has changed the way people seek and share health information. However, despite its significant advantages, social media still faces many challenges in user adoption and participation regarding health information. This study focuses on the factors that affect users' intentions to seek and share health information on social media. A net valence model was developed based on social support theory and prior e-service adoption research. Two studies, one in China and the other in Italy, were conducted to test the model. The results show that the proposed net valence model can effectively explain users' intentions to seek and share health information on social media. The results also show important cultural differences. An extensive literature review reveals that this study is among the first to investigate the non–healthcare professionals' intentions to seek and share health information in the context of social media using cross-culture samples.