Contributing factors to the use of health-related websites.
This study explicates the influence of audience factors on website credibility and the subsequent effect that credibility has on the intention to revisit a site. It does so in an experimental setting in which participants were given two health-related search tasks. Reliance on the web for health-related information positively influenced website credibility in both searches. Knowledge was a significant predictor for the search task that required more cognitive ability. Of the credibility dimensions, trust/expertise and depth were significant predictors of intention to revisit a site in both searches. Fairness and goodwill were nonsignificant predictors in both searches.
Department of Community Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, USA. trhong@tulane.edu
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D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D035502:Trust