Consumer ethnocentrism and political identity in value formation within public health communication for healthcare products
Evidence from China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22089948 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Donger Zhang (Konkuk University Medical Center), Ruixia Ji (Konkuk University Medical Center), Sang Do Park (0000-0001-6366-8532, Konkuk University Medical Center, corresponding author), Sang-Do Park (Konkuk University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Pages | 1693501-1693501 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1693501 |
| PMID | 41613095 |
| OpenAlex | W7123576227 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 68 |
Background: Healthcare products are typical credence goods, for which it is difficult to completely verify quality and safety even after use. Therefore, consumers' judgments depend greatly on trust and information credibility rather than cost. This study presents a trust-based model integrating the Technology Acceptance Model and the Value-based Adoption Model to explain the effects of message cues and sociocultural factors on consumers' value formation and purchase intention within the institutional and social context shaped by China's digital transformation, population aging, and the Healthy China 2030 policy framework. Methods: An online survey was conducted on 875 Chinese consumers through the Wenjuanxing platform. The research model was verified using structural equation modeling, and moderation-mediation analysis and multi-group analysis were performed to examine the moderating effects of consumer ethnocentrism and political identity (membership in the Chinese Communist Party, CCP). Results: The analysis showed that advertising perception, brand image, and personalization had significant positive effects on perceived quality, while price and information cues did not show direct effects. Perceived quality strongly improved perceived value, and perceived value appeared as the most decisive factor predicting purchase intention. Consumer ethnocentrism significantly moderated the relationship between quality and value, showing that culturally grounded trust strengthens value formation. In addition, the multi-group analysis results showed that the CCP member group had stronger relationships among perceived value, purchase intention, and the quality-value mediation path than the non-member group. Conclusion: This study extended TAM-VAM to the context of credence goods, highlighting that consumer decision-making in healthcare markets is driven less by functional utility and more by trust-based value formation mechanisms. It also empirically confirmed that consumer ethnocentrism and political identity are sociocultural moderating factors that strengthen the cognitive and emotional value transfer. From a practical and policy-oriented perspective, the findings suggest that healthcare communication and public health strategies should emphasize credibility-enhancing messages, transparent information disclosure, and culturally resonant personalization to foster preventive health consumption and reinforce public trust
Consumer ethnocentrism · Credence · Ethnocentrism · Health care · Politics · Sociocultural evolution · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Health Literacy and Information Accessibility · Technology Adoption and User Behaviour
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |