Building Trust and Engagement: Mapping Social Media’s Role in Digital Healthcare Communication

The increasing integration of social media into healthcare has redefined how organizations engage with consumers (patients), disseminate information, and build relationships and trust. This study investigates the strategic use of social media by leading Indian healthcare providers-Apollo Hospitals, Fortis Healthcare, and Max Healthcare, through a multiple case study approach. The study examines how these platforms align with key consumer (patient) needs by drawing on the internet attributes of Social Networking, Participation, Apomediation, Collaboration, and Openness. The analysis reveals that healthcare organizations leverage diverse content typologies - Informational, Educational, Inspirational, and User-generated, to drive meaningful engagement and patient empowerment. Apomediation emerges as a critical mechanism, enabling consumers (patients) to access high-quality medical information and expert guidance without dependence on traditional intermediaries. Additionally, the study identifies relationship and trust-building strategies, including transparent communication, professional endorsements, and community-driven interactions that builds consumer (patient)-brand relationships and reinforce institutional credibility, showing how combinations of strategies optimize relational outcomes, trust, and knowledge enhancement. The findings are synthesized into a conceptual model that integrates relationship management and apomediation theories, highlighting how specific strategies drive trust, engagement, knowledge enhancement, and relationship-building. The study contributes to social media adoption area by offering a theory-driven framework and research propositions that provide a foundation for future empirical testing across countries and industries.