The Development of a Smart Health Awareness Message Framework Based on the Use of Social Media: Quantitative Study (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Social media has recently provided a remarkable means of delivering health information broadly and in a cost-effective way. Despite its benefits, difficulties are encountered in affirming adoption of this technology by its users in the domain of health promotion. OBJECTIVE This study explores the factors that affect individuals’ acceptance of using social media as a tool for receiving health awareness messages and adoption of such content accordingly. METHODS To validate the hypotheses and proposed framework, a survey based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) with extension of other constructs was developed. The survey was distributed via Qualtrics software and generated 391 responses. RESULTS Of the 391, 121 respondents use social media platforms often during the week, with a percentage of 30.9% and (27; 6.9%) participants never using social media. In addition, (94; 24%) respondents use these platforms for seeking health information. Based on the results, perceived usefulness (beta=0.37; P<0.001), gain-framed message (beta=0.04; P<0.001), and loss-framed message (beta=0.08; P<0.001) were seen to positively and significantly influence people’s intention to use social media as a means to spread information about health promotion. The proposed SHAM framework identifies 64.2% of the variance in initiation to use, 55.4% of the variance of perceived usefulness, and 26.2% of the variance of perceived ease of use. CONCLUSIONS This study sheds light on the factors that are associated with the acceptance and adoption of social media by its users in the health promotion domain. The findings reveal that the intention of adopting social media for health awareness purposes is positively impacted upon by the perception of usefulness of social media and the design of health messages. Future research might seek to explore other factors that relate to people’s behaviour. This point of view will assist health organisations in developing their health messages effectively