Graduation Term

Fall 2024

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Committee Chair

Ishida-Lambert Chiharu

Committee Member

Peter Kaufaman

Committee Member

Gary Hunter

Abstract

Social media channels are essential for promoting networking and patient education in the healthcare sector. They include YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, where each platform has its unique benefits and demerits. Therefore, this thesis explores the effectiveness of these channels in marketing in the United States healthcare sector. It has been discovered that social media marketing enhances engagement, and increases the reach of target consumers, and healthcare delivery. However, challenges like the spread of propaganda, low-quality information, and cyber attacks compromise their effectiveness. The researcher had to use theories like the elaboration likelihood model, uses and gratification theory, and social influence theory to assess the effectiveness of these channels. The theories offered variables like trust, engagement, brand awareness, and brand image to inform the reliability of a given tool. Consequently, the study undertook a qualitative research design to collect primary data on the targeted population. A sample of 183 respondents was chosen to answer 15 questions that aligned with the study objectives, whose ages ranged from 18 to 30 years. It comprised students from Illinois State University, who understood all the research questions. The study findings include a lack of trust and engagement on social media channels, the reason is more than 88 % of the respondents rarely engaged with the platform. Moreover, this study shows healthcare marketing significantly benefits from the use of informative and interactive content. Marketers should invest more in Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube while ensuring they selectively use influencers and trendy messages. The consumers also demonstrate a high involvement attitude when interacting with healthcare information. This implies that superficial cues might compromise corporate credibility and message content. The analysis also showed healthcare marketing required high argument quality messages and guarantee source experience. The higher the perceived quality, the lower the probability of seeking alternative information sources like physicians’ offline reputation and qualification. Keywords: Social media marketing, credibility, trendiness, propaganda, psychological, engagement.

Access Type

Thesis-Open Access

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