Boosting Healthy Heart Employer-Sponsored Health Dissemination Efforts: Identification and Information-Sharing Intentions

Abstract

Health information dissemination options have expanded to include workplaces and employer-sponsored efforts. This study focuses on a core relational concept found in workplaces, organizational identification—the feeling of belongingness—and the impact of partnering with employers and health clinics in health information dissemination. We use social-identity theory and multiple identification to test our predictions from a sample of working adults representing more than 100 different employers. We found that when people strongly identify with their employer, they have increased health behavioral intentions and they intend to talk about the health information with coworkers. The significant models explain more than 50% and 30% of the variance in these two outcomes. The experimental results examining single and multiple organizational sources revealed no differences on any outcomes. These findings offer a contribution to health information dissemination research by articulating how identification with an employer functions to affect behavioral intentions.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

An earlier version of this article was presented at the International Communication Association Meeting in London, England, June 2013.

Notes

¹ Contact the first author for a copy of the messages used in this study.