The Impact of Technology Affordance of Short Videos on Users' Health Information Acceptance: A Study Based on Chinese Short Video Users

Health communication, as an independent field under communication science, has now gained a huge attention from the society, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. On the one hand, human society attaches more and more importance to health, and health information plays an important role in improving people's wellness. On the other hand, with the development of media technology, the channels for health information communication have been constantly broadened. Short videos, as one of the major forms of new media, have been used to disseminate health information. Then, whether the media technology of short videos has an impact on users' experience became the concern of this study. More specifically, this study investigated the correlation between the technological affordances of short videos and the acceptance of health information by Chinese users. This study adopted a quantitative approach. Through data analysis and structural equation modeling, this study found a positively correlation between technology affordances of short videos and users' experience of health information acceptance. Specifically, the association, visibility, and editability of short videos' technology affordances positively influence users' perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of health information, and further positively affect users' continuous watching intention of health short videos. Based on these findings, this study suggested more targeted recommendations from a practical perspective.