Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2025

Methodology for Establishing a Community-Wide Life Laboratory for Capturing Unobtrusive and Continuous Remote Activity and Health Data
Published on: July 27, 2018
Understanding online health information seeking behavior of older adults: A social cognitive perspective
Xiumei Ma1, Yunxing Liu2, Pengfei Zhang3
1Faculty of Business, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Introduction:
Online health information seeking has been verified to play a crucial role in improving public health and has received close scholarly attention. However, the seeking behavior of older adults, especially the underlying mechanism through which they are motivated to seek health information online, remains unclear. This study addresses the issue by proposing a theoretical model leveraging social cognitive theory.
Methods:
IT self-efficacy and IT innovativeness were identified as personal factors and professional support and social support were identified as environmental factors. We conducted a survey that included 347 older people in China and examined the research hypotheses with a structural equation model.
Results:
IT self-efficacy and IT innovativeness facilitate older adults to seek health information online by increasing their perceived benefit of using the internet. Additionally, professional support and social support enhanced older adults' online seeking behavior by promoting their health awareness. We also found that perceived benefit displayed a stronger impact than health awareness on older adults' behavior related to searching for health information online.
Conclusion:
This study reveals that IT self-efficacy, IT innovativeness, professional support, and social support will promote older adults to seek health information online by enhancing their health awareness and perceived benefit. The findings of this study provide significant theoretical and practical implications.
Related Concept Videos
Cognitive Development During Adulthood
Erikson's Theory on Socioemotional Development during Adulthood
Intimacy Versus Isolation in Early Adulthood
Individuals in early...
Social Cognitive Perspective on Personality
Documentation in Long-Term and Home Healthcare Setting
Long-Term Care Facilities
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques VI
Motivation and Self-Determination
Motivation, the driving force behind behavior, plays a pivotal role at every stage of the change process. The research...
Longitudinal Research

