Abstract
Although there is a multitude of taxonomies of health information sources, these taxonomies only partly include how information users classify these sources. The present paper complements this research by developing a taxonomy which is based on individuals’ subjective perceptions of the ‘universe’ of health information sources. In our study, nine non-redundant sources of health information were presented to N = 150 participants who rated all 36 possible combinations of source pairs regarding their perceived similarity. Results of nonmetric multidimensional scaling suggested three basic dimensions underlying the similarity ratings: “expertise” (lay vs. professional), “interaction” (interpersonal vs. impersonal), and “accessibility” (low vs. high). Thus, the wide array of health information sources can be structured by means of the new taxonomy arranging them on three dimensions. This allows researchers to classify each source and with this, to draw on common ground when interpreting the varying use of health information sources.
Highlights
When experiencing a health problem, a fundamental need for health information arises
Similar to the possible application of our taxonomy exemplified in the comprehensive model of information seeking (CMIS), in the Risk Information Seeking and Processing Model (RISP), the characteristics we identified as individual means of differentiating between health information sources could be considered separately as such moderators
We presented a multidimensional taxonomy for the classification of health information sources, which is based on subjective source perceptions, and thereby, is in line with the basic assumptions of UAGT (Katz et al, 19731974)
Summary
When experiencing a health problem, a fundamental need for health information arises. A vast body of research exists on individuals’ health information seeking behavior with regard to the preference for specific sources of health information (e.g., Dutta-Bergman, 2004; Rutten et al, 2005, for a review; Pecchioni and Sparks, 2007; Smith, 2011; Dobransky and Hargittai, 2012). In this line of research, seeker characteristics, such as sociodemographic or personality variables, are at the researchers’ main focus. Blanch-Hartigan and Viswanath (2015) showed that higher education levels are associated with more use of the internet and support organizations as sources of health information
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