“Scientific evidence is very important for me”: The impact of behavioral intention and the wording of user inquiries on replies and recommendations in a health-related online forum

Medical laypeople frequently use forums on the Internet for communicating about various health-related topics. How they communicate with other users and which content they select to recommend to each other depends on personal as well as on social factors. In this study we examined two influencing factors in an experimental online forum where 61 women as participants exchanged opinions and information about mammography screening. We studied as a personal factor the impact of participants' personal behavioral intentions with regard to participation in mammography screening. We examined as a social factor the wording of the preceding post of an inquirer, which either emphasized the relevance of scientific evidence or of “holistic” medicine. We found that the more the participants were willing to participate in mammography, the more they recommended scientifically phrased arguments to an inquirer. Moreover, participants adapted their replies to the (scientific vs. holistic) orientation of the inquirers. Finally, we found that scientifically phrased inquiries elicited stronger recommendations in general. We discuss implications of our findings and provide suggestions for future research on online forums.