Media Use and Health Information Seeking: An Empirical Test of Complementarity Theory

This study compares cancer victims and cancer-free adults' use of communication channels for health information. It tests the complementarity theory (Dutta-Bergman, 2004a Dutta-Bergman, M. J. 2004a. Complementarity in consumption of news types across traditional and new media. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 48: 41–60. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2004b Dutta-Bergman, M. J. 2004b. Interpersonal communication after 9/11 via telephone and Internet: a theory of channel complementarity. New Media & Society, 6: 659–673. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) with a subsample of the Health Information National Trends Survey data. The complementarity of communication channels for health information use is confirmed on 3 different levels: complementarity among mass media channels, including traditional media and the Internet; complementarity between the interpersonal channel and mass media channels; and complementarity between the interpersonal channel and mass media channels after controlling for illness severity. This study provides strong support for complementarity theory, and extends the complementarity hypothesis into the realm of interpersonal channels of communication. Finally, this investigation suggests cancer victims use the media for health information differently than adults who have not been diagnosed with cancer.