Title
Information Search in Health Care Decision-Making
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-25-2008
Abstract
This paper investigates how individual consumers may differ in their information search behavior in health care decision-making. Results indicate that most consumers still use word-of-mouth as a primary information source for health care decisions. However, usage of the Internet is increasing. The results of this study indicate that consumers who are most likely to use the Internet for health care information are single, younger, and less educated, whereas consumers who are most likely to use word-of-mouth are middle-aged, married, with higher income and higher education. Surprisingly, no significant gender difference was found in information search behavior for health care decision-making. The results also suggest that consumers with the highest tendency to use word-of-mouth are also the lowest users of the Internet in health care decision-making. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Snipes, Robin L.; Ingram, Rhea; and Jiang, Pingjun, "Information Search in Health Care Decision-Making" (2008). Department of Marketing Faculty Work. 9.
https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/marketing_faculty/9
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1300/J375v15n02_03
Comments
This article is the authors' final published version in Journal of Hospital Marketing & Public Relations, Volume 15, Issue 2, 2005, Pages 33-53.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1300/J375v15n02_03. Copyright © Informa UK Limited