【公开学术报告】Convergence or Divergence: Doctor's Dilemma in Using Medical Terminologies to Deliver Healthy Education on Short Video Platforms

Convergence or Divergence: Doctor's Dilemma in Using Medical Terminologies to Deliver Healthy Education on Short Video Platforms

Speaker: Tong, Jingjing (City University of HongKong)

Date & Time: Tue. 13, May 2025, from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM (Beijing Time)

Place: Tongji Building A2101 

ABSTRACT

Doctors use short video platforms (SVPs) to provide health education and boost their reputations by attracting audiences to engage with their videos. However, SVPs are primarily used for leisure by the public, which contrasts with the serious nature of health education and poses a dilemma for doctors regarding the appropriate language for education to enhance audience engagement. Using professional medical terminology may help maintain doctors’ medical competence, but it may suggest that doctors put limited cognitive effort into making the content understandable for laypersons. Conversely, layperson language may enhance audiences’ perceptions of doctors’ cognitive effort, but it risks compromising doctors’ medical competence. Drawing upon the communication accommodation theory (CAT), we develop a research model to understand how, why, and under what conditions medical terminology use affects audience engagement. Results from two experiments and an archival analysis show that medical terminology use negatively affects audience engagement by reducing the audience’s perceived doctors’ cognitive effort. Contrary to our hypothesis, medical terminology use can decrease perceived doctors’ medical competence, which could be explained by the mediating effects of perceived doctors’ low language competence. Doctors’ happy facial emotions exacerbate the negative effect of medical terminology use on audience engagement, whereas serious facial emotions mitigate this negative effect. This study contributes to health information systems and CAT research, offering practical implications for doctors and SVP managers.

Keywords: short video platform, medical terminology, communication accommodation theory, medical competence, cognitive effort, language competence, facial emotion.