Exploring the Determinants of Online Health Information-Seeking Behavior Using a Meta-Analytic Approach

Jian Wang, Guoyi Xiu and Fakhar Shahzad
Additional contact information
Jian Wang: School of Economics and Management, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150000, China
Guoyi Xiu: School of Economics and Management, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150000, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 17, 1-13

Abstract: Although key factors of online health information-seeking behavior (OHISB), such as self-efficacy, Internet experience, and perceived ease of use, are analyzed in many studies, the research results are controversial. The purpose of this meta-analysis, based on 27 related empirical studies, is to explore the determinants of OHISB. The determinants of OHISB are classified into four categories: demographic characteristic factors, cognitive factors, internal factors, and external factors. According to the results of the analysis using Stata13.0, our study found a weak effect of perceived cost and health anxiety on the OHISB, while subjective norm, perceived usefulness, and attitude have a strong positive effect on the OHISB. Understanding the determinants of OHISB is beneficial in order to know why users utilize online health applications. The findings of the study can contribute to developing and extending the existing theoretical concepts.

Keywords: online health; information seeking; meta-analysis; behavioral analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/17/4604/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/17/4604/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:17:p:4604-:d:260612

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().