Abstract
The chapter presents an overview of the main issues concerning the seeking and assessment of online information related to health and eating behaviors. It provides an overview of the prevalence of online health information and introduces salient factors related to the tendency to seek online information. Specifically, it discusses the role of demographics, digital and eHealth literacy, health status, and trust and distrust of diverse sources. The chapter then elaborates on the specific character of the online information with a discussion of the benefits and risks connected with its use, specifically related to quality. In this regard, the role of source expertise as well as perceived trustworthiness of diverse online and offline sources is discussed. The chapter also provides concrete examples of potential harms connected with the use of low-quality information and several examples of research evaluating health information that are available on different kinds of platforms. The last section explains how the highly variable quality of online information and absence of traditional gatekeepers raised demands for the end users in terms of their assessment of the information. It focuses on the process of the assessment of online information, specifically with regard to questions concerning evaluation of its credibility. The chapter presents the dual processing models which provide useful theoretical frameworks in the area of credibility studies, namely, the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Heuristic-Systematic Model. Then, three specific theoretical models used in online credibility research are depicted: Metzger’s Dual Processing Model of Credibility Assessment, Fogg’s Prominence-Interpretation Theory, and Sundar’s MAIN model. Using these models, the assessment of information is described, with specific focus on the role of diverse online cues in users’ evaluation and the role of individual differences. Attention is given to diverse types of heuristics that guide users’ evaluation and judgment formation concerning the credibility of online information. Moreover, it is shown how this process is affected by literacy skills, motivation, and awareness about potential consequences for the user. Using this framework, the chapter focuses on several issues and examples specifically connected to the assessment of health and eating-oriented information. Finally, users’ abilities to assess health information, as well as the role of motivation in this process, are discussed. The chapter shows how searching and assessment strategies can often lead to low-quality content and stresses the role of eHealth literacy as a skill that helps yield more reliable outcomes of information search.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Adams, S. A. (2010). Revisiting the online health information reliability debate in the wake of “web 2.0”: An inter-disciplinary literature and website review. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 79(6), 391–400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2010.01.006
Atkinson, N. L., Saperstein, S. L., & Pleis, J. (2009). Using the internet for health-related activities: Findings from a national probability sample. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 11(1), e4. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1035
Bates, B. R., Romina, S., Ahmed, R., & Hopson, D. (2006). The effect of source credibility on consumers’ perceptions of the quality of health information on the internet. Medical Informatics and the Internet in Medicine, 31(1), 45–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/14639230600552601
Beck, F., Richard, J.-B., Nguyen-Thanh, V., Montagni, I., Parizot, I., & Renahy, E. (2014). Use of the internet as a health information resource among french young adults: Results from a nationally representative survey. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(5), e128. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2934
Beldad, A., De Jong, M., & Steehouder, M. (2010). How shall I trust the faceless and the intangible? A literature review on the antecedents of online trust. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(5), 857–869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.03.013
Berland, G. K., Elliot, M. N., Morales, L. S., Algazy, J. I., Kravitz, R. L., Broder, M. S., … McGlynn, E. A. (2001). Health information on the internet. Accessibility, quality, and readability in English and Spanish. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285(20), 2612–2621. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.285.20.2612
Cardel, M. I., Chavez, S., Bian, J., Peñaranda, E., Miller, D. R., Huo, T., & Modave, F. (2016). Accuracy of weight loss information in Spanish search engine results on the internet. Obesity, 24(11), 2422–2434. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.21646
Cotten, S. R., & Gupta, S. S. (2004). Characteristics of online and offline health information seekers and factors that discriminate between them. Social Science & Medicine, 59(9), 1795–1806. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.02.020
Diviani, N., van den Putte, B., Giani, S., & van Weert, J. C. (2015). Low health literacy and evaluation of online health information: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 17(5), e112. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.4018
Dutta-Bergman, M. (2003). Trusted online sources of health information: Differences in demographics, health beliefs, and health-information orientation. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 5(3), e21. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.5.3.e21
Eastin, M. S., & LaRose, R. (2000). Internet self-efficacy and the psychology of the digital divide. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 6(1), 0–0. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2000.tb00110.x
Eurostat. (2017). Interactive table showing the percentage of people searching health-related information online, in EU countries in years 2004–2017. Individuals Using the Internet for Seeking Health-Related Information. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&plugin=1&language=en&pcode=tin00101
Eysenbach, G. (2008). Medicine 2.0: Social networking, collaboration, participation, apomediation, and openness. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 10(3), e22. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1030
Eysenbach, G., & Köhler, C. (2002). How do consumers search for and appraise health information on the world wide web? Qualitative study using focus groups, usability tests, and in-depth interviews. British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.), 324(7337), 573–577. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7337.573
Feng, Y., & Xie, W. (2015). Digital divide 2.0: The role of social networking sites in seeking health information online from a longitudinal perspective. Journal of Health Communication, 20(1), 60–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2014.906522
Fogg, B. J. (2003). Prominence-interpretation theory: Explaining how people assess credibility online. In CHI ‘03 extended abstracts on human factors in computing systems (p. 722). New York, NY: ACM Press. https://doi.org/10.1145/765891.765951
Fogg, B. J., Soohoo, C., Danielson, D. R., Marable, L., Stanford, J., & Tauber, E. R. (2003). How do users evaluate the credibility of web sites?: A study with over 2,500 participants. In Proceedings of the 2003 conference on designing for user experiences (p. 1). New York, NY: ACM Press. https://doi.org/10.1145/997078.997097
Fox, N. J., Ward, K. J., & O’Rourke, A. J. (2005). The ‘expert patient’: Empowerment or medical dominance? The case of weight loss, pharmaceutical drugs and the internet. Social Science & Medicine, 60(6), 1299–1309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.07.005
Fox, S. (2011). The social life of health information, 2011. Washington, DC: Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Fox, S., & Duggan, M. (2013). Health online 2013. Washington, DC: Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Fox, S., & Jones, S. (2009). The social life of health information. Washington, DC: Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Hesse, B. W., Nelson, D. E., Kreps, G. L., Croyle, R. T., Arora, N. K., Rimer, B. K., & Viswanath, K. (2005). Trust and sources of health information: The impact of the internet and its implications for health care providers: Findings from the first Health Information National Trends Survey. Archives of Internal Medicine, 165(22), 2618. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.165.22.2618
Higgins, O., Sixsmith, J., Barry, M. M., & Domegan, C. T. (2011). A literature review on health information-seeking behavior on the web : A health consumer and health professional perspective: Insights into health communication. Stockholm, Sweden: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. https://doi.org/10.2900/5788
Hilligoss, B., & Rieh, S. Y. (2008). Developing a unifying framework of credibility assessment: Construct, heuristics, and interaction in context. Information Processing & Management, 44(4), 1467–1484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2007.10.001
Hong, T. (2006). The internet and tobacco cessation: The roles of internet self-efficacy and search task on the information-seeking process. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(2), 536–556. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00026.x
Hwang, K. O., Farheen, K., Johnson, C. W., Thomas, E. J., Barnes, A. S., & Bernstam, E. V. (2007). Quality of weight loss advice on internet forums. The American Journal of Medicine, 120(7), 604–609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2007.04.017
Jacobs, W., Amuta, A. O., & Jeon, K. C. (2017). Health information seeking in the digital age: An analysis of health information seeking behavior among US adults. Cogent Social Sciences, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2017.1302785
Kim, P., Eng, T. R., Deering, M. J., & Maxfield, A. (1999). Published criteria for evaluating health related web sites: Review. British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.), 318(7184), 647–649. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.318.7184.647
Kitchens, B., Harle, C. A., & Li, S. (2014). Quality of health-related online search results. Decision Support Systems, 57, 454–462. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.DSS.2012.10.050
Koch-Weser, S., Bradshaw, Y. S., Gualtieri, L., & Gallagher, S. S. (2010). The internet as a health information source: Findings from the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey and implications for health communication. Journal of Health Communication, 15(Suppl. 3), 279–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2010.522700
Kontos, E., Blake, K. D., Chou, W.-Y. S., & Prestin, A. (2014). Predictors of eHealth usage: Insights on the digital divide from the Health Information National Trends Survey 2012. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(7), e172. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.3117
Kraft, P., & Yardley, L. (2009). Current issues and new directions in Psychology and Health : What is the future of digital interventions for health behaviour change? Psychology & Health, 24(6), 615–618. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870440903068581
Lauckner, C., & Hsieh, G. (2013). The presentation of health-related search results and its impact on negative emotional outcomes. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems—CHI ’13 (p. 333). New York, NY: ACM Press. https://doi.org/10.1145/2470654.2470702
Laz, T. H., & Berenson, A. B. (2011). Association of web-based weight loss information use with weight reduction behaviors in adolescent women. The Journal of Adolescent Health: Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 49(4), 446–448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.01.020
Lederman, R., Fan, H., Smith, S., & Chang, S. (2014). Who can you trust? Credibility assessment in online health forums. Health Policy and Technology, 3(1), 13–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.HLPT.2013.11.003
Lemire, M., Paré, G., Sicotte, C., & Harvey, C. (2008). Determinants of internet use as a preferred source of information on personal health. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 77(11), 723–734. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJMEDINF.2008.03.002
Lewis, S., Thomas, S. L., Blood, R. W., Castle, D., Hyde, J., & Komesaroff, P. A. (2011). “I”m searching for solutions’: Why are obese individuals turning to the internet for help and support with “being fat”? Health Expectations: An International Journal of Public Participation in Health Care and Health Policy, 14(4), 339–350. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2010.00644.x
Lingas, E. O., Dorfman, L., & Bukofzer, E. (2009). Nutrition content of food and beverage products on web sites popular with children. American Journal of Public Health, 99(Suppl. 3), 587–592. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2008.152918
Machackova, H., & Smahel, D. (2018). The perceived importance of credibility cues for the assessment of the trustworthiness of online information by visitors of health-related websites: The role of individual factors. Telematics and Informatics, 35(5), 1534–1541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2018.03.021
Manierre, M. J. (2015). Gaps in knowledge: Tracking and explaining gender differences in health information seeking. Social Science & Medicine, 128, 151–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.01.028
Metzger, M. J., & Flanagin, A. J. (Eds.). (2008). Digital media, youth, and credibility. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Metzger, M. J., & Flanagin, A. J. (2015). Psychological approaches to credibility assessment online. In S. S. Sundar (Ed.), The handbook of the psychology of communication technology (pp. 445–466). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118426456.ch20
Modave, F., Shokar, N. K., Peñaranda, E., & Nguyen, N. (2014). Analysis of the accuracy of weight loss information search engine results on the internet. American Journal of Public Health, 104(10), 1971–1978. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302070
Neter, E., & Brainin, E. (2012). eHealth literacy: Extending the digital divide to the realm of health information. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14(1), e19. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1619
Norman, C. D., & Skinner, H. A. (2006). eHealth literacy: Essential skills for consumer health in a networked world. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 8(2), e9. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.8.2.e9
Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 19, 123–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60214-2
Preece, J. (1999). Empathic communities: Balancing emotional and factual communication. Interacting with Computers, 12(1), 63–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0953-5438(98)00056-3
Rains, S. A. (2008). Seeking health information in the information age: The role of internet self-efficacy. Western Journal of Communication, 72(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570310701827612
Ramírez, A. S., Freres, D., Martinez, L. S., Lewis, N., Bourgoin, A., Kelly, B. J., … Hornik, R. C. (2013). Information seeking from media and family/friends increases the likelihood of engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors. Journal of Health Communication, 18(5), 527–542. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2012.743632
Rieh, S. Y., & Danielson, D. R. (2007). Credibility: A multidisciplinary framework. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 41(1), 307–364. https://doi.org/10.1002/aris.2007.1440410114
Sbaffi, L., & Rowley, J. (2017). Trust and credibility in web-based health information: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(6), e218. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7579
Schofield, G., Croteau, K., & McLean, G. (2005). Trust levels of physical activity information sources: A population study. Health Promotion Journal of Australia: Official Journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals, 16(3), 221–224.
Seçkin, G. (2010). Cyber patients surfing the medical web: Computer-mediated medical knowledge and perceived benefits. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(6), 1694–1700. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.06.018
Stvilia, B., Mon, L., & Yi, Y. J. (2009). A model for online consumer health information quality. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 60(9), 1781–1791. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21115
Sundar, S. S. (2008). The MAIN model: A heuristic approach to understanding technology effects on credibility. In M. J. Metzger & A. J. Flanagin (Eds.), Digital media, youth, and credibility (pp. 72–100). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Sutherland, L. A., Wildemuth, B., Campbell, M. K., & Haines, P. S. (2005). Unraveling the web: An evaluation of the content quality, usability, and readability of nutrition web sites. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 37(6), 300–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1499-4046(06)60160-7
Tao, D., LeRouge, C., Smith, K. J., & De Leo, G. (2017). Defining information quality into health websites: A conceptual framework of health website information quality for educated young adults. JMIR Human Factors, 4(4), e25. https://doi.org/10.2196/humanfactors.6455
Thackeray, R., Crookston, B. T., & West, J. H. (2013). Correlates of health-related social media use among adults. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 15(1), e21. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2297
Todorov, A., Chaiken, S., & Henderson, M. D. (2002). The heuristic-systematic model of social information processing. In J. P. Dillard & M. Pfau (Eds.), The persuasion handbook: Developments in theory and practice (pp. 195–212). London, UK: Sage.
Tustin, N. (2010). The role of patient satisfaction in online health information seeking. Journal of Health Communication, 15(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730903465491
van Dijk, J., & Hacker, K. (2003). The digital divide as a complex and dynamic phenomenon. The Information Society, 19(4), 315–326. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972240309487
Wathen, C. N., & Burkell, J. (2002). Believe it or not: Factors influencing credibility on the web. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53(2), 134–144. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.10016
Ybarra, M., & Suman, M. (2008). Reasons, assessments and actions taken: Sex and age differences in uses of internet health information. Health Education Research, 23(3), 512–521. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyl062
Ye, Y. (2010a). A path analysis on correlates of consumer trust in online health information: Evidence from the Health Information National Trends Survey. Journal of Health Communication, 15(Suppl. 3), 200–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2010.522687
Ye, Y. (2010b). Correlates of consumer trust in online health information: Findings from the Health Information National Trends Survey. Journal of Health Communication, 16(1), 34–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2010.529491
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Šmahel, D., Macháčková, H., Šmahelová, M., Čevelíček, M., Almenara, C.A., Holubčíková, J. (2018). The Quality of Eating-Oriented Information Online. In: Digital Technology, Eating Behaviors, and Eating Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93221-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93221-7_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-93220-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-93221-7
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)