Social Capital and Consumer Value Co-Created Within an Online Health Community

Many health providers sponsor online communities that enable health consumers to connect and share experiences. This qualitative study draws upon both social capital and consumer behavior theories to demonstrate that consumers participating in the creation of social capital co-create value for themselves and each other. This netnographic study contributes and operationalizes theoretical frameworks for identifying social capital and consumer value within online communities. Results identify 14 social-capital-building practices and further reveal that these practices represent two distinct themes: practices that create a caring environment and practices that assist others. Findings indicate that members of online health communities gain affective, functional, social, and rational benefits such as empathy, self-esteem, status, connectedness, and efficiency. As a managerial and practical contribution, this study establishes online communities as an important component of patients’ healthcare networks not only for exchanging information and support but also as settings for accessing social capital.     

Investigating social motivations,opportunity and ability to participate in communities of virtual co‐creation

Communities of virtual co‐creation are emerging as a new form of consumer engagement, where through a collaborative and interactive process, ideas and knowledge from consumer are applied differently to create new value for the consumers themselves, the company and all stakeholders. The aim of this paper is to explore the drivers, namely motivation, opportunity and ability, of consumer willingness to participate in communities of virtual co‐creation. The role of social motivations, that is, altruism and social reputation, particularly relevant inside online communities, is investigated. Data were collected through an online survey on 180 consumers from diverse nationalities. The unit of analysis was a virtual co‐creation activity for food products. Findings show that consumer motivation and ability have a relevant influence on willingness to participate in co‐creation projects, while opportunity has not. In particular, ability showed to be the most relevant factor, suggesting that virtual co‐creation initiatives should be properly designed to facilitate the engagement of consumers. Further, results indicate that consumers' motivations are driven by both altruism and social reputation, where altruism plays a greater role. This confirms that social relations are key motivational drivers in virtual communities, where value is created through interaction with like‐minded people, exchange of information and experiences, provision of support.     

User-generated content in the era of digital well-being: A netnographic analysis in a healthcare marketing context

The disruptive strength of digital technologies in healthcare has led to valuable changes in the search for information and the application of these technologies. The introduction of these technologies has altered, sometimes even inverting, the doctor–patient relationship. User-generated content on social media and online communities represents a form of disruptive cooperation that has huge potential benefits for the future growth of society. Using netnographic analysis of smart patients and data from an online survey of Italian oncologists and health professionals, this paper shows the impact of user-generated content on the pursuit of personal well-being. The linkages between new forms of knowledge, business, and innovation are highlighted. Based on an analysis of the emerging concept of systems medicine, this paper focuses on the dimension of participation. A data-driven approach is adopted, and the data, information, knowledge, and wisdom framework is used to explain how people employ user-generated content in their pursuit of well-being. Managerial perspectives and suggestions for future research developments are discussed.     

Trying to complain: the impact of self‐referencing on complaining intentions

This paper introduces the Theory of Trying to complaining behaviour, and argues that complaining intentions can be explained by the model. Moreover, we model propensity to self‐reference (SR) as a moderating variable, and suggest that the effects of the causes to complaining intentions depend on the SR‐level held by consumers. A sample of undergraduate business students participated in the study, where the goal was to get a better understanding of complaining intentions. Our study provides new and additional insights in the drivers of complaining by also taking dispositional personality differences into consideration. The results demonstrate that boundary conditions for main‐effect models like the theory of trying can be fruitfully addressed through the notion of individual differences. The research documented that customers' propensity to complain systematically differed as a function of their level of self‐referencing. This is both good and bad news to managers. The good news is that a proportion of the customers rely less on their previous experiences in the complaining domain when they form intentions to complain. The bad news is that some others do. The obstacle is that managers cannot tell by the look if they are talking to an individual with high or low propensity to self‐reference. As the customer base contains both types case could be taken in designing marketing communication campaigns that target the groups differently.     

Peer-to-Peer Value Through Social Capital in an Online Motor Neuron Disease Community

Millions of people affected by disability or chronic disease access social support and information through online health communities. These communities of common interest flourish on the Internet, with participants creating peer-to-peer value through social support and information exchange. This study observes a community of people affected by motor neuron disease creating value for themselves and each other within an online health community. The community is studied through the lens of social capital theory, a construct borrowed from the field of sociology that contributes to our understanding of why people gravitate towards these online communities for support and information. The results contribute increased awareness of how peer-to-peer value is created within online health communities and highlight the need for marketers to understand the implications of such communities on consumer behavior as it relates to health care.     

A gender perspective on the use of supplemental healthcare plans

Because employer‐provided health coverage represents the main source of health insurance for Americans and its costs for employees are rising, accurate knowledge about health coverage would seem to be crucial for making sound decisions on choosing the plans that best meet the specific needs of a family. However, previous research suggests that most employees have little understanding of the scope and monetary value, or even the existence of many components of their health benefit package. This paper re‐examines employees’ general financial learning efforts and knowledge level, and how they relate to participation in and importance attached to supplemental healthcare plans. We find that, while self‐directed financial learning and general financial knowledge significantly predicted plan participation and the importance attached to them, demographic factors, such as gender, age and job classification, dominated the supplemental healthcare decisions.     

Reconstructing consumer participation in evidence‐based health care: a polemic

Consumer participation in the evidence‐based health‐care movement is largely seen as important by those who promote evidence‐based health care but is surrounded by a range of competing discourses that variously critique medicine, nursing or health‐care systems; situate consumers as powerless players within systems characterized by controlling health professionals; or politicize the role of the consumer as activist and defender of patient rights. This paper explores these competing discourses and develops an argument that asserts that the social construction of the evidence‐based movement has rendered previously accepted terminology regarding the user or receiver of health services relatively meaningless. The result has been the ‘politicisation’ and ‘professionalisation’ of consumer participation and the time has come to reconstruct consumer participation in evidence‐based health care – from the generation of evidence to guideline development.     

Use of behavioral reasoning theory to examine the role of social responsibility in attitudes toward apparel donation

Drawing on behavioral reasoning theory, this study investigated drivers of young consumers’ apparel donation behavior. By examining the impact of values (i.e., benevolence and power) and reasons (i.e., other‐oriented reasons and self‐oriented reasons) on attitudes, this study highlights the different motivations individuals have for donating clothing. As predicted, benevolence was positively related to other‐oriented reasons for donations and power was positively related to self‐oriented reasons for donations. Both other‐ and self‐oriented reasons for donating influenced attitudes related to apparel donation behavior. These findings offer an overarching explanation for the seemingly disparate reasons for apparel donation previously identified.     

Workplace risks and stressors as predictors of burnout: The moderating impact of job control and team efficacy

Air medical healthcare (AMH) professionals care for critically-ill individuals while conveying them to healthcare centres from distant, and frequently dangerous, locations. AMH professionals experience additional health and safety issues beyond the “typical” stressors faced by other healthcare professionals. Therefore, we integrated the safety and psychosocial health literatures to examine the relationship between workplace stressors (risk perception, worries, and patient-care barriers) and two components of burnout (emotional exhaustion; depersonalization), and the moderating impact of job control and team efficacy for 106 Canadian AMH professionals. Worries over medical hassles and barriers to patient care uniquely predicted emotional exhaustion. Lack of perceived control over one's job was related to exhaustion and depersonalization after controlling for stressors. Job control and team efficacy buffered some of the stressor-burnout relationships. Copyright © 2009 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consumer use of the internet for health information: a survey of primary care patients

An increasing number of patients use the internet to obtain information about health. Although some information is available about how health professionals use the internet, little is known about how patients utilize this information. Some patients may actively seek information to assume more responsibility for their health. However, others may feel obliged to do so because of failing confidence in health care provision. Health professionals have the potential to assist patients to make sense of health information from the internet; however, they may not necessarily welcome this role. This study aims to evaluate patients’ use of such information in a primary care setting. The sample consisted of adult patients (n = 851) from two general practice populations at different levels of the socio‐economic spectrum in South Wales (UK). Patients were surveyed by questionnaire about the health information they use, including the internet. The majority of patients preferred to use their general practitioner as the main source of health information. The internet was jointly the second preferred source for information about an illness (6%). Just over half (51%) of patients in this study had access to the internet, of which about half use it to access health information. Just under a quarter (24%, n = 55) of health internet users had discussed information accessed from the internet during a subsequent consultation with a health professional. Of these, three‐quarters felt more prepared and able to participate in decision‐making about treatments. This study provides a greater understanding of how patients are making use of health‐related information from the internet. These findings can be used to help prepare health care professionals for dealing appropriately with internet‐informed patients.     

The Impact of the Internet on Professional Relationships: The Case of Health Care

This paper considers the impact of the internet on professional services, specifically healthcare services which have been characterised as asymmetrical in information and power distribution. For complex professional services the internet is primarily an information resource offering perceived parity with professionals. Based on interviews with healthcare professionals and website managers, this paper considers how professionals perceive the internet to be changing patterns of professional–consumer interaction and the nature of professional–consumer relationships. Manifest at service encounter level and health policy level, professionals perceived the evolving parameters of the consumer role to be generating a requirement for a fundamental revision of models of service delivery and professional roles.     

Consumer workers as immaterial labour in the converging media markets: three value‐creation practices

This paper takes a practice‐based approach to consumer studies and focuses on the strategic and productive roles that consumers play as immaterial labour or consumer workers in the converging media markets. Based on a case study of a print media organization and its customers, the aim is to discuss the collaborative practices through which value is created in the market. By means of a textual analysis of online and interview data, three value‐creation practices are abstracted and illustrated: constructing a sense of belonging and collective identity, mutual helping and peer support, and building pride and self‐respect. Overall, the paper suggests that in global media environments, consumer‐customers are playing increasingly significant strategic roles in the practices and processes through which value is co‐created in the market. It is therefore concluded that the idea of consumers, and media audiences in particular, as recipients of communication and targets of marketing activities needs to be problematized and the dynamic strategic roles that consumers currently play in the market need to be acknowledged and actively incorporated into the business praxis of media corporations.     

Why do not you read the label? – an integrated framework of consumer label information search

This article facilitates deeper insight into label‐related consumer information acquisition behaviour. An integrated framework of label information search (LIS) has been developed based on a synthesis of related literature and explorative research conducted by analysing online discussions among customers (netnography). The framework focuses on three main groups of personal factors that serve as antecedents of LIS: general personal factors (e.g. health consciousness and socio‐demographics), label‐related personal factors (e.g. label‐related self‐efficacy, trust in labels and the perceived usefulness of labels) and product category‐related personal factors (trust in food products, enduring involvement, experience and perceived quality differences). Important characteristics of the framework are its process‐oriented nature and the dynamically changing relationships among its concepts. LIS is an antecedent to and a consequence of influencing factors. This article offers managerial implications and serves to incite future inquiry in this field.     

Evaluating Advice: Self‐Presentational Biases between High and Low Self‐Monitors

Previous research has demonstrated that high and low self‐monitors sought advice from others who shared their underlying motivational dispositions. Here, three studies extend the prior research by exploring how consumers’ underlying motives direct the type of advice offered and how it is evaluated. In Study 1, high and low self‐monitors were asked to evaluate the advice they gave others. As predicted, high self‐monitors rated their advice more favorably than did low self‐monitors. The underlying motivation that caused high self‐monitors to evaluate their advice more positively was investigated in Study 2. Results indicated that high self‐monitors rated their advice higher because it appeared to be meeting a social‐adjustive function (i.e., self‐presentational needs). In Study 3, high and low self‐monitors created an advertisement that featured their advice on dating for a fictitious online matchmaking service. As expected, advertisements created by high self‐monitors contained advice that addressed social‐adjustive needs while those created by low self‐monitors contained advice that addressed value‐expressive needs. The results of these studies suggest that underlying motivations of the individual play an active role in how advice is crafted and evaluated.     

What Is the Right Delivery Option for You? Consumer Preferences for Delivery Attributes in Online Retailing

Nowadays, online retailers are offering a variety of delivery options consisting of varying combinations of delivery attributes. This study investigates how consumers value these delivery attributes (e.g., delivery speed, time slot, daytime/evening delivery, delivery date, and delivery fee) when selecting a delivery option for their online purchases. Mental accounting theory is used to frame the research and to suggest how mental accounts for money, time, and convenience influence consumer preferences for online delivery options. Specifically, the results of a conjoint analysis show that the most important attribute in shaping consumer preferences is the delivery fee, followed by nonprice delivery attributes. For individual attributes, significant differences are found in consumer preferences between gender and income groups. Cluster analysis reveals three consumer segments that show distinct preference structures: We identify a “price‐oriented,” a “time‐ and convenience‐oriented,” and a “value‐for‐money‐oriented” consumer segment. This study has practical implications for online retailers when implementing suitable delivery strategies and designing effective delivery options to maximize consumer satisfaction.     

The reluctant Hong Kong consumer: purchasing travel online

Hong Kong consumers have embraced the web but appear reluctant to buy airline tickets online, suggesting that perceptions of risk outweigh perceived convenience. In this study we identify that both risk and convenience factors are associated strongly with willingness to purchase, particularly privacy, security and poor customer service, time savings, site usability and information provision. We identify further that the experienced shopper is only moderately satisfied and that satisfaction appears to be associated strongly with willingness to make further purchases. Overall, findings suggest that although consumers recognize a number of benefits, there is deep‐rooted resistance to buying this particular product online. The explanation may lie in a combination of the physical density of the Hong Kong market, love of the whole shopping experience and a desire to minimize risk. We conclude that to tempt consumers online airlines and agents must target the Hong Kong market with a clear value proposition which includes user‐friendly sites, streamlined payment procedures, on‐ and offline customer support, price‐related promotions and tailored offline services which reinforce online offerings.     

Comparing online and non‐online shoppers

A web‐based survey was completed by 130 faculty and staff from a university located in the south‐eastern United States. The purposes of this study were to investigate: (a) consumer characteristics related to online shopping; (b) benefits of online shopping as perceived by online shoppers; and (c) concerns about online shopping as perceived by non‐online shoppers. Responses were analysed using SPSS for tests of chi‐square. Findings suggest that the differences between online shoppers and non‐online shoppers correspond with Rogers’ 1 categories of adopters, and that the educational needs of consumers also differ based on their previous experience with online shopping.     

Health Information on the Internet

Electronic Health (e-Health) increasingly strives to provide health information and services to healthcare stakeholders via the Internet, and to actively involve patients in their care. One major chance for these participatory healthcare and patient-centered approaches that integrate patients in healthcare are the phenomena and ideas associated with providing information and healthcare on the Internet. This paper examines the existing body of knowledge on online health information and explores the current state of research through a review of literature as well as past and current research projects. The fundamental categories of the analysis represent the stakeholders in the healthcare sector, the connecting information flows, the information-transferring technological applications, as well as the categories of the TEMPEST model. Based on these findings, causes and future research fields are discussed. The technological category has the largest share of all categories. Based on these findings, causes and future research fields are discussed.     

Saying “No” to Cake or “Yes” to Kale: Approach and Avoidance Strategies in Pursuit of Health Goals

In developing plans for achieving health‐related goals, two fundamentally different strategies are often used: focusing on healthy foods that one should include in their diet, such as kale (referred to as “approach”), and focusing on unhealthy foods that one should exclude from their diet, such as cake (referred to as “avoidance”). The present research examines the differential effectiveness of approach‐ and avoidance‐based strategies across levels of self‐control, highlighting differences in food choices. The results reveal that those low in self‐control focus on avoidance items they really like and approach items that are less appealing, while those higher in self‐control show an opposite pattern, leading to more‐motivating plans. In addition, the results show that the self‐control by strategy type interaction on liking leads to differences in propensity to choose healthy items. Overall, this research highlights the importance of understanding differences in the implementation of commonly recommended strategies to improve one's health and wellness.