IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/aumajo/v22y2014i3p238-245.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Empowered and knowledgeable health consumers: The impact of online support groups on the doctor–patient relationship

Author

Listed:
  • Stewart Loane, Susan
  • D'Alessandro, Steven

Abstract

Increased longevity means that many people live into their 70s, 80s and beyond, with increasing numbers living with chronic disease. The role of the Internet in the care of chronic disease has been explored within the health literature and, to a lesser extent, within the marketing literature, with recent research suggesting that around 60% of patients source internet-based information about medical conditions and treatment. This mixed-methods study explores the impact of online support groups on the doctor–patient relationship finding that participants in an online support group for inflammatory bowel disease share lay advice, empower each other and act as a credible channel for word-of-mouth referrals. The traditional asymmetric relationship between patient and doctor is challenged by this new form of educated, empowered health consumer who is able to work in partnership with medical service providers in the ongoing management of chronic illness.

Suggested Citation

  • Stewart Loane, Susan & D'Alessandro, Steven, 2014. "Empowered and knowledgeable health consumers: The impact of online support groups on the doctor–patient relationship," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 238-245.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:aumajo:v:22:y:2014:i:3:p:238-245
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2014.08.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1441358214000445
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ausmj.2014.08.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rama K. Jayanti & Jagdip Singh, 2010. "Pragmatic Learning Theory: An Inquiry-Action Framework for Distributed Consumer Learning in Online Communities," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(6), pages 1058-1081, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gerlinde Pauli & Sebastian Martin & Dorothea Greiling, 2023. "The current state of research of word-of-mouth in the health care sector," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 20(1), pages 125-148, March.
    2. Camille Vansimaeys & Lamya Benamar & Christine Balagué, 2021. "Digital health and management of chronic disease: A multimodal technologies typology," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1107-1125, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christine Gonzalez & Élodie Huré & Karine Picot-Coupey, 2013. "Mobile application value for consumers," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes & University of Caen) 201340, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes, University of Caen and CNRS.
    2. Stefan Stremersch & Vardit Landsman & Sriram Venkataraman, 2013. "The Relationship Between DTCA, Drug Requests, and Prescriptions: Uncovering Variation in Specialty and Space," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(1), pages 89-110, June.
    3. Bosangit, Carmela & Demangeot, Catherine, 2016. "Exploring reflective learning during the extended consumption of life experiences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 208-215.
    4. Steils, Nadia & Obaidalahe, Zakia, 2020. "“Social food”: Food literacy co-construction and distortion on social media," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    5. Onishi Hiroshi, 2018. "Consumers’ Social Learning About Videogame Consoles Through Multiple Website Browsing," Journal of Systems Science and Information, De Gruyter, vol. 6(6), pages 495-511, December.
    6. van Esch, Patrick & Arli, Denni & Gheshlaghi, Mahnaz Haji & Andonopoulos, Vicki & von der Heidt, Tania & Northey, Gavin, 2019. "Anthropomorphism and augmented reality in the retail environment," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 35-42.
    7. Huré, Elodie & Picot-Coupey, Karine & Ackermann, Claire-Lise, 2017. "Understanding omni-channel shopping value: A mixed-method study," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 314-330.
    8. Alden, Dana L. & Kelley, James B. & Youn, James B. & Chen, Qimei, 2016. "Understanding consumer motivations to interact on brand websites in the international marketplace: Evidence from the U.S., China, and South Korea," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 5909-5916.
    9. Prigge, Jana-Kristin & Dietz, Beatrix & Homburg, Christian & Hoyer, Wayne D. & Burton, Jennifer L., 2015. "Patient empowerment: A cross-disease exploration of antecedents and consequences," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 375-386.
    10. Nadia Steils & Zakia Obaidalahe, 2020. "“Social food”: Food literacy co-construction and distortion on social media," Post-Print hal-03097928, HAL.
    11. Labrecque, Lauren I. & vor dem Esche, Jonas & Mathwick, Charla & Novak, Thomas P. & Hofacker, Charles F., 2013. "Consumer Power: Evolution in the Digital Age," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 257-269.
    12. Seraj, Mina, 2012. "We Create, We Connect, We Respect, Therefore We Are: Intellectual, Social, and Cultural Value in Online Communities," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 209-222.
    13. Jing Zhao & Sejin Ha & Richard Widdows, 2016. "The influence of social capital on knowledge creation in online health communities," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 311-321, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:aumajo:v:22:y:2014:i:3:p:238-245. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/australasian-marketing-journal/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.