Consumer Health in the Digital Age

Abstract

The digital age is transforming consumer health. Yet digital health technologies are often researched, developed, marketed, and used without focusing on how they fit within a broader framework. We present a consumer-centric 3×3 framework wherein the digital age introduces three key affordances (personalization, interactivity, and information transparency), which can shape patient behavior within and bridging across three patient journey stages (preclinic, in-clinic, and postclinic). We then delineate a future research agenda leveraging this framework. Overall, this article thus provides an organizing structure and agenda for understanding consumer health in the digital age.