在线医疗口碑的再传播:关系强度、疾病严重性与性别的影响

Transmission intention of eWOM of online medical services:The impact of tie strength, perceived severity of disease,and gender

在国家推进“互联网+医疗”大战略的背景下,口碑作为推广在线诊疗服务的重要力量却没有得到理论研究的重视。线上医疗口碑通过互联网用户向患者再传播,会受到哪些因素的影响?本文通过实验法,发现了关系强度、疾病严重性的影响,以及性别的调节作用。数据显示,人们更愿意向强关系或是重疾患者传播在线医疗的正面口碑。更重要的是,两性传播模式存在差异,男性更愿意向强关系他人传播;女性则较为博爱,对强弱关系他人的推荐意愿无显著差异。在面对轻疾和重疾两类患者时,男性的传播意愿无显著差异;而女性向重疾患者再传播的意愿更高。此外,研究还发现,互依自我的个体更可能进行再传播;产品熟悉度越高、感知风险越小,再传播意愿越强。本研究将有利于健康传播理论和口碑理论的完善和发展,也为在线医疗的普及提供策略参考。

In the context of the national "Internet+medical" grant strategy, Word-of-mouth(WOM), as an important force to promote medical services online-has not been given enough attention by theoretical researchers. What are the factors that would influence the online medical eWOM from Internet users to patients? Using experimental methods, this paper found that tie strength and percieved severity of the disease influence the WOM tendency, whilst gender moderates the effect. Data shows that people are more willing to spread positive eWOM to their strong ties or to severe patients. More importantly, the transmission patterns differ by gender-males are more willing to recommend to strong ties, whereas females do not show such preference. However, females tend to recommend more to patients with severe disease, yet there is no such difference among males. Moreover, the study also found that individuals with high interdepend self are more likely to pass on eW OM;the higher the product’s familiarity and the lower the perceived risk would strengthen the willingness of WOM engagement.