A healthy influence? Exploring the relationships between unsponsored social media posts, loneliness, isolation and health-related behavioral intentions

Existing research on the influence of social media usage on health-related behavior is mostly conducted in the context of marketing or focuses on organized social media campaigns by large organizations. The current study employs the integrative model of behavioral prediction (IMBP; Fishbein & Cappella, 2006) to explore whether unsponsored social media posts from friends, family members, and acquaintances influence personal attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control PBC about eight health behaviors. In addition, we sought to understand the moderating effect, if any, of social isolation, loneliness, and fear of contracting an illness—in this case COVID-19. Analysis of an online survey (N = 459) suggests that perceptions of others’ behavior seen on social media (as “responsible” or “irresponsible,” and “understandable” or “confusing”) influenced two, if not three, factors of IMBP for all eight behaviors. For five behaviors – binge drinking, vaping, wearing a helmet, getting a flu, and wearing a mask during a pandemic – perception of others’ online behavior influenced all three IMBP factors. The factor that was least influenced was perceived behavioral control, which aligns with previous research. For COVID-specific behaviors, the pathways between perception of social media posts and PBC, and PBC to intention, were not significant for the behaviors of gathering with others and spending time indoors with people you don’t live with, perhaps indicating that despite the uncertainty of the COVID pandemic, people held strongly to their intentions to prevent infections. Isolation and loneliness only moderated certain relationships, and fear of contracting COVID was not a consistent moderating factor. This study clarifies the “real-life” impact of social media in the context of health intentions and adds to the growing body of research using IMBP to understand social media’s influence on health.