Teens Don’t Trust Health Information on Brand And Commercial Websites
Teens perceive brand and commercial websites (.com) as the least trustworthy providers of information on physical activity, nutrition, and calorie intake according to a study in Journal of Advertising They believe websites of government agencies (.gov), non-profit organizations (.org), and educational institutions (.edu) to be far more reliable providers of this type of health information.
Take aways
- For teens, the domain name extension of a website forms an important indicator of the trustworthiness of online health information.
- Brand and commercial websites (.com) are perceived as far less trustworthy than websites of government agencies (.gov), non-profit organizations (.org), and educational institutions (.edu).
- Therefore, commercial companies should reconsider their efforts to inform consumers on health topics via their own website and, instead, partner with non-commercial organizations to bring their healthy message across.
Study information
The question?
How do teens perceive the trustworthiness of online health information?
Who?
182 11- to 14-year olds (62% girls, 38% boys; primarily Caucasian)
Where?
USA, Michigan
How?
Participants were asked to indicate the trustworthiness of several commercial (e.g., mcdonalds.com, thecocacolacompany.com) and non-commercial websites (e.g., kidshealth.org, gsu.edu) providing health information. They were also asked for their skills in finding and evaluating online health information, frequency of Internet use, and familiarity with visiting health-related websites. Then participants were given an eHealth literacy training in which they were taught how to find and evaluate health information online and asked to answer the same set of questions again.
Facts and findings
- Teens believe websites of government agencies (.gov), non-profit organizations (.org), and educational institutions (.edu) are the most reliable providers of information on physical activity, nutrition, and calorie intake.
- They perceive brand and commercial websites (.com) as the least trustworthy providers of health information. Explanation for this finding:
- Teens are more critical about health information on brand and commercial websites because they believe these websites primarily aim to sell products instead of to inform them.
- The eHealth literacy training improved teens’ ability to find and evaluate health information online and further increased their distrust in brand and commercial websites as providers of health information.
- Teens’ frequency of Internet use and familiarity with visiting health-related websites did not play a role in their perceptions of the trustworthiness of online health information.