Exploring Gender-Specific Nuances in Social Media Health Information Sharing: An Application of the SOR Framework in eHealth Research

This study uniquely integrates both personal and environmental factors within the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework to investigate the factors influencing attitudes toward social media health behavior (SMHB) and health information sharing on social media. Analyzing 1652 survey responses via structural equation modeling, our results confirm all hypotheses at a significance level of 0.001. The coefficients of determination (R-squared) for attitude toward social media health behavior (ATSMHB) and social media health information sharing intention (SMHISI) are 55.6% and 44.4%, respectively, highlighting the model's reliability. External stimuli (e.g., reliability) and internal factors (e.g., social media health literacy) significantly impact ATSMHB. Mediation analysis underscores ATSMHB's role in linking perceived health reliability, information credibility, social media health literacy, eudaimonic motivation, and SMHISI. Post hoc analysis reveals gender differences, with females exhibiting higher R-square values (62.4% for ATSMHB, 48.7% for SMHISI) and social media health literacy playing a more influential role for females than males. These results offer valuable theoretical insights for academics and practical implications for health practitioners, emphasizing the necessity of tailored strategies based on gender-specific preferences. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of health promotion through social media, providing a comprehensive analysis of the psychological processes that drive health information-sharing behavior in the digital age.