Health consumers' emotional responses toward asthma videos on YouTube are influenced by time since posting, number of tags, subject of content and the emotional tone.

Abstract

Background: Social media platforms and user-generated videos have become important channels and resources for health consumers seeking information and learning about asthma management.

Objectives: This study examined the characteristics of asthma-related videos on YouTube, health consumers' emotional responses to these videos and explored the video attributes influencing their emotional responses and attitudes toward asthma-related content.

Methods: The study employed manual subject analysis, sentiment analysis, descriptive statistical analysis and regression modelling.

Results: The most popular content categories were Treatment, Prevention and Cause & Pathophysiology. Consumer interactions confirmed interest in Treatment. The time since posting, the number of tags, the subject of content and the general tone (positive/neutral/negative) of a video influenced whether it elicited positive or negative emotions.

Discussion: The consumer interactions might indicate interest in a content category, but the analysis might show negative attitudes to that content. 'Sign & Symptom' content can reduce the positive emotional responses, and 'Cause & Pathophysiology' content can raise the negative emotional responses, thus reducing the consumers' expression of positive attitudes in different ways.

Conclusion: The content priorities of video creators and health consumers differed, and keeping the emotional tone positive appears important for fostering positive emotional responses and attitudes.