The health-related uses and gratifications of YouTube: Motive, cognitive involvement, online activity, and sense of empowerment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among motives for health-related YouTube use, cognitive involvement with health information on YouTube, post-exposure online activity, and sense of empowerment regarding health and health care. As a result of the analysis of data from 263 participants, social utility, convenient information-seeking, habit-passing time, and exciting entertainment motives were identified as four motives for health-related YouTube use. Social utility and convenient information-seeking motives were positively related to cognitive involvement and cognitive involvement was positively related to perceived control. Social utility motive was negatively related to perceived competence, whereas convenient information-seeking motive was positively related to perceived competence. Habit-passing time motive was negatively related to goal internalization, whereas convenient information-seeking and exciting entertainment motives were positively related to goal internalization. The findings from this study imply that YouTube could be a useful health communication media for health professionals and organizations to use for empowering users in coping with health-related concerns.