UNDERSTANDING USERS' SOCIAL SUPPORT SEEKING ACTIVITIES IN VIRTUAL HEALTHCARE COMMUNITIES

Abstract

More and more people with health concerns are moving online for information and emotion supports. Virtual healthcare communities are one such online platform for patients to share feelings, look for similar others and exchange supports. The objective of this thesis is to understand the factors that promote social support seeking in virtual healthcare communities through two studies. Study one investigates the effect of social identity on social support seeking intention through the theoretical lens of the Health Belief Model (HBM). Study two examines how actual social support seeking behaviors are related to the change in user¿s uncertainty in illness through the setting of a longitudinal study. It also investigates the effect of social identity and perceived community facilitating capability on users¿ social support seeking behavior. The theoretical and practical contributions are discussed.