Classification of the Use of Online Health Information Channels and Variation in Motivations for Channel Selection: Cross-sectional Survey

BACKGROUND: Existing health education and communication research routinely measures online channel use as a whole by, for example, evaluating how frequently people use the internet to search for health information. This approach fails to capture the complexity and diversity of online channel use in health information seeking. The measurement of generic online channel use may cause too much error, and it lends no support to media planning in public health promotion campaigns or scholarly research involving online channel use. OBJECTIVE: This study intends to present a thorough picture of patterns of online health information channel use and classify the use of various types of online health information channels, including WeChat, microblogs, web portals, search engines, mobile apps, and online forums. Under the framework of the risk information seeking and processing model, this study also analyzes the differences in individuals’ motivations for channel selection to offer further evidence to validate the classification scheme. METHODS: This study sampled 542 Chinese internet users in Beijing. The average age of the respondents was 33 years, female respondents accounted for 52.0% (282/542) of the sample, and the average monthly income ranged from US $900 to $1200. The study surveyed the use of 13 commonly used online health information channels and various sociopsychological factors associated with online health information seeking. RESULTS: This study derived 3 categories of online health information channels: searching, browsing, and scanning channels. It was found that the use of online searching channels was affect driven (B=0.11; β=0.10; P=.02) and characterized by a stronger need for health knowledge (B=0.09; β=0.01; P<.001). The use of browsing channels was directly influenced by informational subjective norms (B=0.33; β=0.15; P=.004) and perceived current knowledge (B=0.007; β=0.09; P=.003). The use of scanning channels was mainly influenced by informational subjective norms (B=0.29; β=0.15; P=.007). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that health communication practitioners and scholars may consider measuring the use of internet, new media, or online media more precisely instead of simply asking the public about the frequency of online channel use or internet use in the acquisition of health information. Scholars and practitioners may consider measuring the use of online health information channels by using the 3-category scheme described in this study. Future research is encouraged to further explore how people process health information when using different online channels.