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Consumer Demand for Health Information on the Internet

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Author Info
M. Kate Bundorf
Laurence Baker
Sara Singer
Todd Wagner
Abstract

The challenges consumers face in acquiring and using information are a defining feature of health care markets. In this paper, we examine demand for health information on the Internet. We find that individuals in poor health are more likely than those in better health to use the Internet to search for health information and to communicate with others about health and health care. We also find that individuals facing a higher price to obtain information from health care professionals are more likely to turn to the Internet for health information. Our findings indicate that demand for consumer health information depends on the expected benefits of information and the price of information substitutes.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 10386.

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Date of creation: Mar 2004
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10386

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search, Learning, and Information

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Wagner, Todd H. & Hu, Teh-wei & Hibbard, Judith H., 2001. "The demand for consumer health information," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 1059-1075, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-55, March-Apr. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Karen Clay & Ramayya Krishnan & Eric Wolff, 2001. "Prices and Price Dispersion on the Web: Evidence from the Online Book Industry," NBER Working Papers 8271, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Mark V. Pauly & Bradley Herring & David Song, 2002. "Health Insurance on the Internet and the Economics of Search," NBER Working Papers 9299, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Jeffrey R. Brown & Austan Goolsbee, 2000. "Does the Internet Make Markets More Competitive?," NBER Working Papers 7996, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Dana Goldman & Darius Lakdawalla, 2001. "Understanding Health Disparities Across Education Groups," NBER Working Papers 8328, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Kenkel, Don, 1990. "Consumer Health Information and the Demand for Medical Care," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(4), pages 587-95, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Acton, Jan Paul, 1975. "Nonmonetary Factors in the Demand for Medical Services: Some Empirical Evidence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 83(3), pages 595-614, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. McGuire, Thomas G., 2000. "Physician agency," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 461-536 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Alan T. Sorensen, 2000. "Equilibrium Price Dispersion in Retail Markets for Prescription Drugs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(4), pages 833-862, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Haas-Wilson, Deborah, 1990. "Consumer information and providers' reputations : An empirical test in the market for psychotherapy," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 321-333, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Stephen T. Parente & David Salkever & Joan DaVanzo, 2003. "The Role of Consumer Knowledge of Insurance Benefits in the Demand for Preventative Health," NBER Working Papers 9912, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Mark V. Pauly & Mark A. Satterthwaite, 1981. "The Pricing of Primary Care Physicians' Services: A Test of the Role of Consumer Information," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(2), pages 488-506, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Marquis, M. Susan, 1985. "Cost-sharing and provider choice," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 137-157, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Cauley, Stephen Day, 1987. "The Time Price of Medical Care," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(1), pages 59-66, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Kenkel, D., 1988. "The Demand For Preventive Medical Care," Papers 3-88-4, Pennsylvania State - Department of Economics.
    Other versions:
  17. Janet Currie & Patricia B. Reagan, 2003. "Distance to Hospital and Children's Use of Preventive Care: Is Being Closer Better, and for Whom?," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(3), pages 378-391, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Joan Costa i Font & Joan Gil, . "Are there Socio-Economic Inequalities in Obesity in Spain?," Studies on the Spanish Economy 217, FEDEA. [Downloadable!]
  2. F. Barigozzi & R. Levaggi, 2006. "A Rationale for Searching (Imprecise) Health Information," Working Papers 559, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-12-3.

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