THEORETICAL STUDY

Research on the Driving Factors of User Information Interaction in Online Health Communities

  • Zhai Ranran ,
  • Han Zhengbiao
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  • College of Information Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095

Received date: 2023-07-18

  Revised date: 2023-11-01

  Online published: 2024-02-23

Supported by

This work is supported by the Research Fund for Humanities and Social Sciences of the Central Universities of Nanjing Agricultural University titled "Research on the Mechanism of User Information Interaction and Efficiency Improvement in Online Health Communities" (Grant No. SKYC2023013).

Abstract

[Purpose/Significance] This study aims to reveal the driving factors of user information interaction in online health communities and construct a theoretical model of that from a holistic perspective. [Method/Process] The study conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 online health community users of different ages and occupations with the micro-moment time-line and neutral questions, and analyzed the obtained 209,500 words of interview data on grounded theory. [Result/Conclusion] ① The driving factors for user information interaction in online health communities are composed of three external factors, that is, health problems, community characteristics, and constraints, as well as five internal factors, that is, health cognitive needs, health affective perception, health information needs, perceived community quality, and experience with search engines and communities. ② The health problems will indirectly drive user information interaction by stimulating users’ health cognitive needs and affective perception while the health information needs are the direct factors. ③ Community characteristics, experience with search engine and community will indirectly drive user information interaction by influencing perceived community quality, while perceived community quality, experience with search engines and communities, and constraints will comprehensively work together.

Cite this article

Zhai Ranran , Han Zhengbiao . Research on the Driving Factors of User Information Interaction in Online Health Communities[J]. Library and Information Service, 2024 , 68(3) : 15 -26 . DOI: 10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2024.03.002

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