Health Information Seeking and the World Wide Web: An Uncertainty Management Perspective

Abstract

Uncertainty management theory was applied in the present study to offer one theoretical explanation for how individuals use the World Wide Web to acquire health information and to help better understand the implications of the Web for information seeking. The diversity of information sources available on the Web and potential to exert some control over the depth and breadth of one's information-acquisition effort is argued to facilitate uncertainty management. A total of 538 respondents completed a questionnaire about their uncertainty related to cancer prevention and information-seeking behavior. Consistent with study predictions, use of the Web for information seeking interacted with respondents' desired level of uncertainty to predict their actual level of uncertainty about cancer prevention. The results offer evidence that respondents who used the Web to search for cancer information were better able than were respondents who did not seek information to achieve a level of uncertainty commensurate with the level of uncertainty they desired.

Notes

¹Although concerns have been raised about the quality of health information on the Web (Brashers et al., 2002), in the context of this study, the accuracy or objectiveness of information are secondary to an individual's ability to use the information to manage uncertainty. The Web is noteworthy in that it makes it possible to gain access to disreputable sources such as websites posting fraudulent claims or otherwise misleading information (Kata, 2010). Despite the inaccuracy, such information may be useful in increasing uncertainty and, if only for a short amount of time, offering hope. As Brashers (2001, p. 483) notes, “Information does not need to be ‘correct’ to reduce uncertainty … but at some level it needs to create perceptions of coherence.”

²Although the argument made in this project assumes that one's use of the Web and commensurate exposure to information is under one's control, it is possible that one may encounter information that affects uncertainty in a direction that is undesirable or causes an unwanted reappraisal. Yet, in the context of an information search using the Web, one should be able to respond to such instances by continuing to search until one's level of uncertainty is desirable or sufficient. Granted the types of information sources available and the potential to control the breadth and depth of one's search, information seekers should be able to find information to reconcile information that creates a discrepancy between the amount of uncertainty one feels and the amount one would like to feel.

³Thirty-six respondents reported searching for health information without using the Web.

Note. Outcome variable = actual uncertainty about cancer prevention. The variables no seek and seek Web plus other sources were dummy-coded so that the reference group consisted of respondents who used only the Web; a negative beta coefficient for either of these variables indicates that actual cancer uncertainty was greater among respondents who used only the Web. The results for each block are reported when that block was added to the model. Model summary: F (13, 498) = 11.06, p < .01, R ² = .22.

*p < .05.