Despite concerns about online health information and efforts to improve its credibility, how users evaluate and utilize such information presented in Web sites and online discussion groups may involve different evaluative mechanisms. This study examined credibility and homophily as two underlying mechanisms for social influence with regard to online health information. An original experiment detected that homophily grounded credibility perceptions and drove the persuasive process in both Web sites and online discussion groups. The more homophilous an online health information stimulus was perceived as being, the more likely people were to adopt the advice offered in that particular piece of information.

This study investigates the influence of interpersonal communication and intergroup identification on members' evaluations of computer-mediated groups. Participants (N = 256) in 64 four-person groups interacted through synchronous computer chat. Subgroup assignments to minimal groups instilled significantly greater in-group versus out-group identification. One member in each group was instructed to exhibit interpersonally likable or dislikable behavior. Analysis revealed that confederates acting likably were more attractive than those acting dislikably regardless of their in-group or out-group status. Further results indicated that interpersonal behavior interacted with subgroup membership on identification shifts following online discussions. Interpersonal dynamics generally provided stronger effects on members in virtual groups than did intergroup dynamics, in contrast to predictions from previous applications of social identification to computer-mediated communication.

The present study examines the occurrence and timing of modality switching (MS) from the perspective of expectancy violations theory. The results indicate that, relative to continuing to interact through computer-mediated communication, participants rated the social information (partner behavior and physical appearance/attractiveness) acquired by MS as an expectancy violation, although their evaluations varied as a function of the timing of the switch. Participants evaluated the social information more positively and uncertainty-reducing following short-term online associations but more negatively and uncertainty-provoking following long-term ones compared to remaining online. Moreover, social information acquired through MS, irrespective of the timing, was rated as more relationally important. Implications and limitations of the results as well as directions for future research are discussed.

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BackgroundConcerns over health information on the Internet have generated efforts to enhance credibility markers; yet how users actually assess the credibility of online health information is largely unknown.Objective This study set out to (1) establish a parsimonious and valid questionnaire instrument to measure credibility of Internet health information by drawing on various previous measures of source, news, and other credibility scales; and (2) to identify the effects of Web-site domains and advertising on credibility perceptions.Methods Respondents (N = 156) examined one of 12 Web-site mock-ups and completed credibility scales in a 3 x 2 x 2 between-subjects experimental design. Factor analysis and validity checks were used for item reduction, and analysis of variance was employed for hypothesis testing of Web-site features' effects.Results In an attempt to construct a credibility instrument, three dimensions of credibility (safety, trustworthiness, and dynamism) were retained, reflecting traditional credibility sub-themes, but composed of items from disparate sources. When testing the effect of the presence or absence of advertising on a Web site on credibility, we found that this depends on the site's domain, with a trend for advertisements having deleterious effects on the credibility of sites with .org domain, but positive effects on sites with .com or .edu domains.ConclusionsHealth-information Web-site providers should select domains purposefully when they can, especially if they must accept on-site advertising. Credibility perceptions may not be invariant or stable, but rather are sensitive to topic and context. Future research may employ these findings in order to compare other forms of health-information delivery to optimal Web-site features.

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This paper explores the relationship among ideology, media science news use, and three different types of trust (trust in government, trust in science, and trust in regulative institute), as well as their direct and indirect impact on the support of agricultural biotechnology and the support of regulation on genetic modified organisms (GMO). A structural model showed that the public are slightly leaning toward the use of biotechnology; meanwhile they overwhelmingly request the control on GMO. Level of education directly promoted all three types of trusts and had a positive effect on the support of biotechnology and the support of regulation on GMO. Media science news use has both a direct and an indirect positive effect (through trust in scientific process) on support of biotechnology. Among the three different types of trusts, trust on government did not have significant effects on public attitude toward biotechnology. Trust in regulative institutes, associated with more control on GMO, decreased the public's support of biotechnology. Meanwhile, trust in scientific process directly bolstered public's support of biotechnology.