How Experts' Use of Medical Technical Jargon in Different Types of Online Health Forums Affects Perceived Information Credibility: Randomized Experiment With Laypersons.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Online health forums are widely used, but the quality of advice differs as much as the knowledge backgrounds of the audience members who receive the advice. It is important to understand how people judge the information given online. In line with the communication accommodation theory (CAT), online forums represent specific social contexts of communication which can present either accommodative or nonaccommodative language to an audience. Accordingly, use of accommodative or nonaccommodative language might affect people's perceived trust in the communicator. OBJECTIVE:The objective of this study was to investigate how experts who use accommodative (vs nonaccommodative) language are evaluated by passive users of an online forum. METHODS:Participants (n=98) took part in an online

SUBMITTER: Zimmermann M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5801514 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature