Determinants of Vertical and Horizontal Online Health Information Behavior

This study examines two types of online health information behavior: vertical, one-way online health information behavior oriented toward receiving messages from elites and professionals, and horizontal, two-way online health information behavior oriented toward sharing communication among ordinary Internet users. The purpose is to investigate how each type of behavior is associated with different demographic, psychographic, and lifestyle factors. The guiding theoretical arguments are based on the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) approach, Social Cognitive Theory, and The Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior. The dataset analyzed is the 2012 Health Information National Trends Survey, which was collected among 2238 nationally representative American adults who reported that they have used the Internet for health information. Logistic regression analysis shows two key findings: first, having a high income and education increased odds of engaging in vertical online health information behavior; second, being young and female and having trust in doctors and traditional media decreased odds of engaging in horizontal online health information behavior. This study contributes to broadening understanding of how people use health information online, and it suggests that health professionals and communicators should consider the different characteristics of people who tend toward either vertical or horizontal online health information behavior.