Consumer Insights from Peer-to-Peer Communication in an Online Health Community of Weight Management

Abstract

To demonstrate a theory-based method of identifying consumer insights in online peer-to-peer discussion, the present study analyzed posts from The Biggest Loser League, a weight-management online community, and found a considerable proportion of posts revealing negative attitudes toward food and beverage products, a lack of discussion on healthy food and beverage choices, and higher frequencies of content related to verbal persuasion and mastery experience. These findings suggest that sources of self-efficacy are a frequent topic in online discussions. While Bandura's (1997) model theorizes that verbal persuasion is the third most powerful source of self-efficacy, findings from the present study suggest that the sources of self-efficacy communication depend upon the mode of the communication. Specifically, people expect to exchange encouragement (verbal persuasion) more often in online all-peer communication. Practically, the present study suggests that participating online health communities can help to discourage unhealthy eating habits and increase self-efficacy of weight management. However, more information on healthy choices needs to be provided.