Knowledge sharing in a health infomediary: role of self-concept, emotional empowerment, and self-esteem

Health infomediary systems are emerging as important knowledge sharing platforms that help patients manage their own health outside of traditional health care delivery models. Patients participate in health infomediaries to learn from other patients’ experiences and knowledge. Knowledge sharing is an important aspect of the success of a health infomediary. Factors related to self-concept have been widely studied in the domains of psychiatry and psychology, in settings such as mental health and behavioural well-being, but remain unexplored in the digital health context. In particular, it is not known how self-concept influences knowledge sharing behaviours in health infomediaries. This study posits that self-efficacy, social identity, and self-stigma drive knowledge sharing in an infomediary through emotional empowerment and appearance-contingent self-esteem. We use the health belief model as a foundation to propose a two-stage model and testable hypotheses. We used secondary archival data of 222 patients participating in a health infomediary specialising in reconstructive surgery. Analyses using structural equation modelling and econometric methods support the hypotheses. Findings broadly suggest that there are distinct paths through emotional empowerment and appearance-contingent self-esteem that can motivate users to contribute knowledge in health infomediaries. We explain the managerial insights and contributions of our study.