Social Marketing and Online Social Support Structure in Contexts of Treatment Uncertainty

ABSTRACT Social marketing thinking and strategies have been used by public health and nongovernmental organizations to improve treatment adherence, with encouraging results. However, in contexts characterized by high uncertainty regarding treatment outcomes, the role of social marketing can be problematic. This research is part of a vast investigation project in which the authors explore how the social support concept can be better approached in social marketing interventions targeting contexts of treatment uncertainty. The aim of the present study is to analyze the structure of social support interactions in two online health communities facing uncertainty in treatment outcomes. To achieve this goal, the social network analysis (SNA) technique was used. Results indicate that the online communities examined in the study shared a similar structural signature, that is characterized by scale-free and small world properties and reduced indexes of reciprocity. Results also indicate that users mostly search for informational types of support in these online communities and that the communities can be segmented into homogeneous groups based on the structural positions they occupy in the network and their profile of support interaction. Implications for social marketing segmentation and targeting are discussed.