JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Outbreaks of influenza-like illnesses (ILI) present significant public health challenges, heightening the need for timely and accessible health information. In response, many individuals increasingly rely on TikTok as a primary platform for acquiring health-related content, particularly among Chinese users. Despite TikTok’s growing role in digital health communication, existing research lacks an integrated perspective that combines problem-solving and technology adoption to comprehensively explain user engagement in this context.

Objective:

This study integrates the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS) and the technology acceptance model (TAM) to examine perceptions, communicative actions, and health-protective intentions related to influenza-like illness (ILI) among Chinese TikTok users.

Methods:

Using snowball and convenience sampling, online cross-sectional data were collected from 1,109 Chinese adults. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analyzed the relationships between variables and tested the proposed model.

Results:

Technology beliefs significantly influence attitude, with perceived usefulness (β=.344, P<.001) and perceived ease of use (β=.359, P<.001) playing key roles. Risk perception (β=.050, P<.05) also positively affects attitude. Situational motivation is significantly enhanced by risk perception (β=.154, P<.001), problem recognition (β=.153, P<.001), and involvement recognition (β=.248, P<.001), while constraint recognition negatively impacts it (β=−.266, P<.001). Attitude (β=.390, P<.001) and situational motivation (β=.471, P<.001) positively influence communicative action, which predicts health-protective intentions (β=.390, P<.001).

Conclusions:

TikTok serves as an effective platform for health communication and behavior promotion in China. Integrating STOPS and TAM enhances understanding of digital health engagement, providing insights for designing effective online health communication strategies.