Peer-reviewedCC BYOnline journal of public health informatics22 Oct 2026

A Health Belief Model Approach to Determining Psychological Predictors of Behavioral Intention to Seek Health Information on Social Media: Quantitative Descriptive Study.

Sivile Manene¹
Liezel Cilliers²

¹Department of Information Systems, Faculty of Management and Commerce, University of Fort Hare, East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
²Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Fort Hare, 50 Church Street, East London, Eastern Cape, 5201, South Africa, 27 0835184009.

Abstract

Background

The increasing use of social media as a source of health information has highlighted the need to understand the psychological factors influencing individuals' intentions to seek health-related information online, particularly within the South African context.Objective

This study aimed to determine the psychological predictors of behavioral intention (BI) to seek health information on social media within a developing South African context.Methods

Adopting a positivist quantitative approach, data were collected from 214 social media users aged 18 to 35 years using a nonprobability convenience sample and analyzed through structural equation modeling using IBM SPSS and SmartPLS.Results

The findings from the sample of 214 young adults showed that perceived susceptibility (β=0.189; P=.01), perceived severity (β=0.288; P=.001), health motivation (β=0.462; P<.001), perceived benefits (β=0.221; P=.02), and cues to action (β=0.281; P<.001) significantly increased users' intentions to seek, verify, and share accurate health information. Self-efficacy had a significant negative effect on BI (β=-0.251; P=.008), whereas perceived barriers had no significant effect (β=-0.028, P=.65).Conclusions

Based on these insights, the psychological predictors of BI to seek health information on social media within a South African context are proposed to support users in identifying and managing misinformation, offering practical implications for risk communication strategies and public health interventions.

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Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{manene2026health,
  title = {{A Health Belief Model Approach to Determining Psychological Predictors of Behavioral Intention to Seek Health Information on Social Media: Quantitative Descriptive Study.}},
  author = {Sivile Manene and Liezel Cilliers},
  journal = {Online journal of public health informatics},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.2196/98444},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42912963},
  note = {CC BY},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - A Health Belief Model Approach to Determining Psychological Predictors of Behavioral Intention to Seek Health Information on Social Media: Quantitative Descriptive Study.
AU  - Sivile Manene
AU  - Liezel Cilliers
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/22
JO  - Online journal of public health informatics
DO  - 10.2196/98444
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42912963
AB  - Background  The increasing use of social media as a source of health information has highlighted the need to understand the psychological factors influencing individuals' intentions to seek health-related information online, particularly within the South African context.Objective  This study aimed to determine the psychological predictors of behavioral intention (BI) to seek health information on social media within a developing South African context.Methods  Adopting a positivist quantitative approach, data were collected from 214 social media users aged 18 to 35 years using a nonprobability convenience sample and analyzed through structural equation modeling using IBM SPSS and SmartPLS.Results  The findings from the sample of 214 young adults showed that perceived susceptibility (β=0.189; P=.01), perceived severity (β=0.288; P=.001), health motivation (β=0.462; P<.001), perceived benefits (β=0.221; P=.02), and cues to action (β=0.281; P<.001) significantly increased users' intentions to seek, verify, and share accurate health information. Self-efficacy had a significant negative effect on BI (β=-0.251; P=.008), whereas perceived barriers had no significant effect (β=-0.028, P=.65).Conclusions  Based on these insights, the psychological predictors of BI to seek health information on social media within a South African context are proposed to support users in identifying and managing misinformation, offering practical implications for risk communication strategies and public health interventions.
SN  - 1947-2579
ER  -

Abstract

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