Factors Influencing Chinese Online Health Service Use

Abstract

Despite the popularity of online health services (OHSs) among patients in recent years, academic research on this phenomenon is limited. Drawing on the valence framework, the authors proposed a model to explore both the most important facilitators of OHS use intention from the perceived value perspective and inhibitors of OHS use intention from the perceived risk perspective. Data were collected from 407 OHS users through an online survey. Results showed that the inhibitors of OHS use intention include privacy risk and social risk, while facilitators include social support value, convenience value, and utilitarian value. These findings enrich the OHS literature by revealing both the inhibitors and facilitators of OHS use intention. This study also provides practical implications for platforms offering OHS in relation to effectively attracting users.