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Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: The public's access to health information on the Internet has been acclaimed as a revolution in health, empowering individuals to gain health knowledge by actively seeking information online. Much research of online health users has focused on actively seeking health information online. However, recent scholarship has identified health information scanning, a more passive exposure to health information on the Internet, as more common among online users than active health seeking. Health scanning suggests a different model of individuals gaining health knowledge. Through health scanning, online heatlh users may be exposed to health information they would not choose to actively seek. This is important to health campaigns, as the process of health scanning presents opportunities to reach publics with new health information, particularly through nontraditional channels. H1: Do online users scan for health information more frequently than they actively seek health information? H2: Do online health information scanners differ in characteristics based on frequency of health information scanning? H3: Which sources would online users prefer for scanning for health information online, when they are not actively seeking health information?
Methods: Survey of 1,300 users of a national consumer health Web site.
Results: Online users are significantly more likely to scan for health information online than to actively seek health information online. There are distinct levels of online health information scanning, with characteristics of high-frequency health scanners differing from low-frequency health scanners not based on demographics, but on their expertise and general frequency of use on the Internet. Online users prefer public, nonprofit and academic sources, rather than private-sector or personal online sources.
Conclusions: Health campaigns should seek to first, establish "daily news" sources of health information through various online sources, and second, health campaigns should facilitate and encourage online users who are high-frequency health scanners to share information with others, as a new interpersonal means of sharing health information.
Implications for research and/or practice: This research provides a new perspective about people obtaining health knowledge as a result of their use of the Internet, through the more passive process of health information scanning rather than active health information seeking. It confirms health scanning is more frequent than health seeking. This offers health campaign communicators new opportunities to reach publics, and to distribute health information through various channels.