How does Doctors’ Information Sharing Behavior Influence Reputation in Online Health Consultation Platform?

Abstract

The online health consultation platforms provide a unique context for doctors to share health information privately and publicly. However, how doctors’ reputation is shaped in the context of online information sharing has been largely neglected in the current literature. This study explores the relationship between information sharing and reputation by distinguishing private and public information sharing behaviours and investigating the contingent roles of doctors’ professional and online seniority. Data from a leading online consultation platform in China was obtained to test the research model and associated hypotheses. The results reveal that both private and public sharing can contribute to doctors’ online reputation and the effects of the two information sharing behaviours are different about doctors within different professional and online seniority. This study contributes to the literature on health information sharing and online reputation development.