The Kindness of Commenters: An Empirical Study of the Effectiveness of Perceived and Received Support for Weight-Loss Outcomes

Online weight-loss communities have become increasingly popular among individuals who want to lose weight. Social support and self-monitoring are two components found to be critical in facilitating successful weight-loss outcomes in these platforms. Although the direct impact of social support upon health has been studied extensively, the indirect impact of social support is underexplored. In this study, we include one important mediator, self-monitoring activities, to examine the effectiveness of social support on individuals’ weight-loss outcomes via both direct and indirect pathways. Drawn from theories of social support, social reciprocity, and social indebtedness, we differentiate social support as perceived and received support. We find, through empirical analysis, that both social support and self-monitoring are effective in promoting weight loss; however, perceived and received support operate through different pathways. Whereas both perceived and received support associate positively with weight-loss outcomes, received support associates negatively with self-monitoring activities. These findings can help healthcare providers and practitioners to leverage efforts in advising individuals’ self-management. Our results can also be used to help service providers in designing more effective online interventions.