Effects of New Media Use on Health Behaviors: A Case Study in China
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Abstract
Background: Mass communication is one of the most important ways in health communication. The emergence of new media has changed the way people acquire health information and then their health behaviors. However, few studies have been conducted about complicated relations between media use and health behaviors under new media conditions and further systematic explanation is needed.
Methods: A hypothesis model for the influence of WeChat use on health behaviors was constructed to explore the internal influencing mechanism of new media use on health behaviors. An empirical analysis on the internal influencing mechanism of WeChat use on health behaviors was carried out with a survey data consist of 463 young active users on famous online social network sites in China from March to June 2019.
Results: New media use represented by WeChat has significant positive influence on health behaviors. Individuals who frequently use new media related to health have better health conditions than those who rarely use them. The improvement of health behaviors is mainly attributed to acquisition of health knowledge. Such effect is also mediated by the degree of individuals’ trust in health knowledge.
Conclusion: This study not only discloses the influencing mechanism of new media use and health knowledge on health behaviors, but also confirms the value of new media in promoting public health communication and public health behaviors. Conclusions provide significant references in decision-making to develop effective guidance of public health.
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2. Zhang CQ, Leeming E, Smith P, et al (2018). Acceptance and commitment therapy for health behavior change: a contextually-driven approach. Front Psy-chol, 8(1):2350.
3. Nabi RL, Huskey R, Nicholls SB, et al (2019). When audiences become advo-cates: self-induced behavior change through health message posting in social media. Comput Hum Behav, 99(10):260-67.
4. Huo J, Desai R, Hong YR, et al (2019). Use of social media in health communication: findings from the health information na-tional trends survey 2013, 2014, and 2017. Cancer Control, 26(1):135-44.
5. Park M (2019). Information sharing to promote risky health behavior on social media. J Health Commun, 24(4):359-67.
6. Zhang Z, Yu BK, Li FK, et al (2017). The influence of WeChat sports use on healthy behavior: a case study based on the theory of planned behavior. J Mass Commun, 305(6):60-7.
7. Jimenez P, Bregenzer A (2018). Integration of ehealth tools in the process of work-place health promotion: proposal for de-sign and implementation. J Med Internet Res, 20(2): e65.
8. Webb TL, Joseph J, Yardley L, et al (2010). Using the internet to promote health be-havior change: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of theoretical basis, use of behavior change techniques, and mode of delivery on efficacy. J Med Internet Res, 12(1): e4.
9. Farquhar J, Wood P, Breitrose H, et al (1977). Community education for cardio-vascular health. Lancet, 309(8023):1192-195.
10. Yang QH (2017). Are social networking sites making health behavior change interven-tions more effective? a meta-analytic re-view. J Health Commun, 22(3):223-33.
11. Gough A, Hunter RF, Ajao O, et al (2017). Tweet for behavior change: using social media for the dissemination of public health messages. JMIR Public Health & Surveillance, 3(1): e14.
12. Zheng MN (2014). Absence and reconstruc-tion: the influencing mechanism of new media on health communication. Shanghai Journalism Review, (9): 78-84.
13. Winkleby MA, Flora JA, Kraemer HC (1994). A community-based heart disease intervention: predictors of change. Am J Public Health, 84(5):767-72.
14. Asiri E, Khalifa M, Shabbir SA, et al (2016). Sharing sensitive health information through social media in the Arab world. Int J Qual Health Care, 29(1):68-74.
15. Swenson RR, Rizzo CJ, Brown LK, et al (2010). HIV knowledge and its contri-bution to sexual health behaviors of low-income African American Adolescents. J Natl Med Assoc, 102 (12): 1173-182.
16. Worsley A (2002). Nutrition knowledge and food consumption: can nutrition knowledge change food behaviors?. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr, 11(3): S579-85.
17. Dutta-Bergman MJ (2004). Primary sources of health information: comparisons in the domain of health attitudes, health cognitions, and health behaviors. Health Commun, 16(3):273-88.
18. Scammell MK (2019). Trust, conflict, and engagement in occupational health: north American epidemiologists conduct occu-pational study in communities affected by chronic kidney disease of unknown origin. Curr Environ Health Rep,6(4): 247-55.
19. Thorson K, Vraga E, Ekdale B (2010). Credibility in context: how uncivil online commentary affects news credibility. Mass Commun Soc, 13(3):289-313.
20. Lee H, Park SA, Lee YA, et al (2010). As-sessment of motion media on believabil-ity and credibility: an exploratory study. Public Relat Rev, 36(3):310-12.
21. Escadas M, Jalali MS, Farhangmehr M (2019). Why bad feelings predict good behaviours: the role of positive and nega-tive anticipated emotions on consumer ethical decision making. Bus Ethics, 28(1): 529-45.
22. Wu ML (2013). Structural Equation Model: Ad-vanced in Amos Practice. Chongqing Univer-sity Press, China, pp. 26-32.
23. Lenhart A, Purcell K, Smith A, et al (2010). Social media and mobile internet use among teens and young adults. Millenni-als. Pew Internet and American Life Pro-ject, the United States. Available from: www.pewresearch.org
24. Panek E (2014). Left to their own devices: college students “guilty pleasure” media use and time management. Commun Res, 41(4):561-77.
25. Walker SN, Sechrist KR, Pender NJ (1987). The health-promoting lifestyle profile: development and psychometric charac-teristic. Nurs Res, 36(2):76-81.
26. Wang Dong. Development and preliminary application of a healthy lifestyle question-naire (HLQ) for college students [PhD thesis]. School of Basic Medical Science, Southern Medical University, China; 2009.
27. Vega WA, Sallis JF, Patterson T, et al (1987). Assessing knowledge of cardiovascular health-related diet and exercise behaviors in Anglo-Americans and Mexican-Americans. Prev Med, 16(5):696-709.
28. Hsueh YS. The relationship among health behavior knowledge, health motivation, and exercise behavior of college students in Southern Taiwan [PhD thesis]. School of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China;2009.
29. McAllister, Daniel J (1995). Affect- and cog-nition-based trust as foundations for in-terpersonal cooperation in organizations. Acad Manage J, 38(1):24-59.
30. Zhao J, Ha S, Widdows R (2013). Building trusting relationships in online health communities. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw, 16(9):650-57.
31. Corbett JB, Mori M (1999). Medicine, media, and celebrities: news coverage of breast cancer, 1960-1995. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 76(2):229-49.
32. Lo VH, Su H (2011). Media exposure, in-formation processing strategies, and knowledge about H1N1 Flu. Mass Commu Res, 107(4):173-206.
33. Ogola FO, Maria JF (2020). Mechanisms for development in corporate citizenship: a multi-level review. Int J Corp Soc Resp, 5(1):7.
34. Metzger MJ, Flanagin AJ (2011). Using web 2.0 technologies to enhance evidence-based medical information. J Health Com-mun, 16(sup1):45-58.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 50 No 5 (2021) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v50i5.6112 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Media use Health behaviors Health knowledge Public health | ||
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How to Cite
1.
Tang L, Wang J. Effects of New Media Use on Health Behaviors: A Case Study in China. Iran J Public Health. 2021;50(5):949-958.
