Health Website Success: User Engagement in Health-Related Websites

Abstract

Health-related websites are increasingly accessed on the Internet. More online users are using health-related websites, and rely on it to get answers for their health questions. Health care providers try to develop websites that focus on the users’ needs. One of the key factors, to develop users' driven health-related websites, is supporting users’ engagement.

This study proposes a research model that investigates factors that are critical to users’ engagement in health-related websites. Three factors were identified accordingly; website usability, website interactivity, and users' perceived health information quality. A limited amount of research has previously explored such a thorough list.

240 respondents participated in an online survey, to test the research model. Results show that the engagement antecedents identified by the study are significant, and explain a great percentage of the variance for the engagement. The study concluded by implications for theory and practice.