What motivates physicians to share free health information on online health platforms?

Online platforms enable physicians to share health and medical information with the public; however, little research has been conducted to explore why physicians share free health education information. Drawing on motivation theory, this study develops a theoretical model to explore the influences o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Information processing & management Vol. 57; no. 2; p. 102166
Main Authors: Zhang, Xiaofei, Guo, Feng, Xu, Tianxue, Li, Yongli
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2020
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects:
Clinical information
Expertise
Experts
Free health information sharing
Health
Health behavior
Health education
Health informatics
Health information
Information dissemination
Information sharing
Internet
Material motivation
Medical research
Model testing
Motivation
Motivation theory
Online information services
Online physician
Panel data
Physicians
Professional motivation
Sharing
Free health information sharing
Material motivation
Professional motivation
Online physician
Expertise
ISSN:0306-4573, 1873-5371
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Summary:Online platforms enable physicians to share health and medical information with the public; however, little research has been conducted to explore why physicians share free health education information. Drawing on motivation theory, this study develops a theoretical model to explore the influences of material and professional motivation on free information sharing and the contingent roles of professional expertise and online expertise. The model is tested using a six-month panel data set of 61,326 physicians’ sharing experiences. The results indicate that in addition to material motivation, professional motivation also plays a primary role in inducing physicians to share free information. However, when a physician's professional and online expertise is at a high level, the effect of material motivation is weakened and professional motivation plays a more important role. This study contributes to the literature on knowledge sharing, online health behavior, and motivation theory, and provides implications for practice.
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ISSN:0306-4573
1873-5371
DOI:10.1016/j.ipm.2019.102166