The impact of disclosed status capital on health knowledge provider performance in common Q&A platforms: Capturing the dilution effect of platform certification

Abstract

Online Q&A platforms have become increasingly important channels for health information exchange, distinguished from professional online health communities (OHCs) by their flexible identity disclosure mechanisms. While OHCs require standardized credential displays, Q&A platforms allow knowledge providers to strategically self-disclose their professional status through usernames while also undergoing platform certification. Although existing research has examined the effects of status capital in structured OHCs, little attention has been paid to how health knowledge providers’ self-disclosed status capital influences online consultation performance on Q&A platforms and whether a dilution effect exists when the platform certification coexists. To address these issues, we construct a zero-inflated model using a unique panel dataset from a leading online Q&A platform in China and its paid consultation service. The results show that (1) providers’ self-disclosed status capital significantly improves their consultation performance; (2) this relationship is mediated by an inverted U-shaped pricing mechanism; and (3) platform certification paradoxically weakens the positive impact of self-disclosed status, which demonstrates a clear dilution effect. Robustness checks confirm these patterns across alternative model specifications. By uncovering the nuanced dynamics of providers’ disclosed status capital and their performance, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of health knowledge consumer behavior in health communities within common Q&A contexts and provides practical insights for optimizing information presentation strategies within the industry.