Effects of the Use of Criteria for Credibility Evaluation of Websites with Advertisings of Health Products by Consumers: A Case Study of Food Supplements
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Abstract
Objective: To assess the effect of consumers using the criteria for credibility evaluation of websites with advertisings of dietary supplement (CEWADS). Methods: The study was divided into 3 parts. The first part was to create the CEWADS criteria for consumers. The draft criteria were sent to 21 experts on pharmaceutical and health consumer protection to ask for their agreement using the Delphi techniques for 3 rounds. Part 2 of the study tested the validity of the CEWADS criteria. The researchers used the criteria to assess credibility of selected 20 websites. Correlation between the scores from the CEWADS criteria and ratings of website quality from experts was determined. Study 3 evaluated the use of the CEWADS criteria by consumers to assess the two websites, one with high and one with low credibility score according to expert evaluation in study 2. The test was conducted among 140 consumers in Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province. Consumers were randomly assigned to a control group (n=70) and an experimental group (n=70) using block randomization. The control group evaluated the credibility of the websites based on their opinions. The experimental group studied the CEWADS criteria before evaluating the credibility of the websites. Results: Seven items of the CEWADS criteria reached consensus among the experts in the Delphi process. The results of website evaluation by experts had a positive relationship with that of researchers using the CEWADS criteria (r=0.65). The experimental group could better distinguish the quality of websites with high and low credibility compared to the control group did (P <0.001). With regard to the website with high credibility, the experimental group rated credibility (3.91 ± 0.10 from a full score of 5) significantly higher than the control group did (3.24 ± 0.10 from a full score of 5). For websites with low credibility, the experimental group rated the website with credibility score (2.34 ± 0.09) significantly lower than the control group did (3.44 ± 0.09). Conclusion: Empowering consumers on the criteria for assessing the credibility of a website enhances their ability to distinguish the quality of the information displayed on the website. Therefore, relevant parties should encourage consumers’ use of the criteria similar to that in this study.
Article Details
ผลการวิจัยและความคิดเห็นที่ปรากฏในบทความถือเป็นความคิดเห็นและอยู่ในความรับผิดชอบของผู้นิพนธ์ มิใช่ความเห็นหรือความรับผิดชอบของกองบรรณาธิการ หรือคณะเภสัชศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยสงขลานครินทร์ ทั้งนี้ไม่รวมความผิดพลาดอันเกิดจากการพิมพ์ บทความที่ได้รับการเผยแพร่โดยวารสารเภสัชกรรมไทยถือเป็นสิทธิ์ของวารสารฯ
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