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August 22, 2025

Navigating disruptions in the health industry: how firms can leverage online opinion leadership to drive health behaviors

Key Points

Online opinion leadership positively influences consumer health behavior through parasocial relationships and health behavioral control.
The study involved 15 interviews and a survey of 331 Instagram followers, linking influencer marketing directly to improved health behaviors.
A mixed-methods approach was used to analyze relationships between opinion leadership, health behaviors, and consumer engagement.
Findings suggest enhancing influencer partnerships can improve health engagement, highlighting the importance of congruence between influencers and causes.

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate the disruptive impact of firm-led influencer marketing on promoting health behaviors, examining how firms can leverage online opinion leadership to drive consumer health behavior and navigate the complex and evolving health industry. Design/methodology/approach The empirical approach revolves around a sequential mixed-methods approach with 15 semistructured interviews with social media users followed by a time-lagged survey of 331 followers of an Instagram account. Findings The results reveal that online opinion leadership is positively associated with consumer health behavior via consumer parasocial relationships and health behavioral control. Moreover, this study also reveals that online opinion leader-cause congruence significantly increases the direct association of online opinion leadership with parasocial relationships and the indirect association with consumer health behavior. Research limitations/implications This work offers insights on consumer health behavior antecedents, online opinion leadership outcomes and the roles of parasocial relationships, health behavioral control and influencer-cause congruence. Exploring other social media platforms like X, YouTube and TikTok can provide additional insights. Practical implications Firms should leverage online opinion leadership for personalized engagement, build parasocial relationships through authentic influencer partnerships, develop influencer-based content through long-term collaborations and measure ROI through health-related outcomes. Originality/value This study investigates the disruptive impact of influencer marketing on promoting health behaviors among consumers, thereby advancing the growing body of literature on online opinion leadership. By emphasizing the strategic use of online opinion leaders and ensuring congruence between influencers and causes, this research provides actionable insights for practitioners to enhance behavioral control and influence health-promoting behaviors in consumers.

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