Cognitive and social pathways of influence: Examining social media content, information helpfulness, and dietary...

This study investigates the influence of social media content on consumers' dietary behavior through the lens of Dual-Process Theory, emphasizing both mechanisms (Informational and normative). Specifically, how content-related factors, namely, aesthetic quality, personalization, source credibility, and authenticity (informational influence), and social dynamics such as peer influence and social acceptance (normative influence) form insights of information helpfulness and subsequently affect consumers' dietary habits. Thus, through employing a structural equation modelling analysis, the findings reveal that content quality, personalization, source credibility, source authenticity, and peer influence are significant predictors of perceived information helpfulness, social acceptance exhibited a substantial negative association, suggesting cultural contingencies in its impact. Moreover, perceived information helpfulness strongly impacts dietary habit changes. This study yields significant theoretical and empirical contributions to the interplay of cognitive and social factors in digital health communication within a unique cultural context, providing theoretical refinements to the Dual-Process Theory and practical implications for culturally sensitive health interventions.