Effects of Content Trust, Source Trust, and Channel Trust on Perceived Message Effectiveness: A Study of Social Media Posts About Bone Health in Australia

Despite the commonsense view that trust positively influences information-seeking behaviors in health communication, equivocal findings exist. The equivocal findings can be attributed to interrelated factors such as differences in conceptualizations, contexts, and methodologies. In the context of online health information, there are three challenges. First, trust has been conceptualized and operationalized as a unidimensional construct, yet its complexity warrants granular investigation. Second, source and channel trust have been examined as equivalent. Lastly, different types of trust have been examined in isolation; more research could be done to determine their dynamics in influencing health behaviors associated with information-seeking. To address these challenges, this study tests three types of trust, including content, source, and channel trust, via an online survey of 1,023 women in Australia in relation to social media posts about bone health. Confirmatory factor analyses show that the three types of trust should be distinguished. Furthermore, findings from structural equation modeling illustrate dynamics of content, source, and channel trust, as well as their associations with perceived message effectiveness, perceived importance, and behavioral intention to seek further information. The findings offered insights into the complexity of trust in individuals’ assessment of social media health messaging.