From likes to lives: understanding social media influence on health decisions

The rise of social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram has transformed how individuals seek, share, and evaluate health-related information. This research examines the persuasive impact of TikTok videos on decision-making regarding elective—but potentially risky—medical procedures such as Botox or lip fillers. Grounded in the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), this study investigates how both central and peripheral processing routes shape viewers’ responses to health content. Across two studies, this research tests two competing propositions: (1) that exposure to videos from appealing, non-medical influencers will increase viewers’ intention to pursue the procedure by lowering perceived risk; and (2) that such videos will have little to no impact, given the high-involvement nature of medical decisions, which encourages central-route processing and reduces reliance on superficial cues like attractiveness or popularity. Study 1 tests a serial mediation model, revealing that higher levels of social media activity increased trust in influencers. The trust, in turn, enhanced perceived safety of cosmetic procedures and significantly predicted behavioral intentions to consider such treatments. The findings suggested that trust and perceived safety serve as key mechanisms in how social media exposure can shape health-related decisions-especially within visual, algorithm-driven environments like TikTok and Instagram. Study 2 investigated the role of disclaimer framing (cognitive, emotional, or no disclaimer) to assess whether disclosure-based contexts reduce persuasion and whether such effects vary by social media activity. Results indicated that through simplified comparisons, cognitive disclaimers weaken consideration of cosmetic procedures, whereas emotional disclaimers do not. In other words, those high on social media activity continued to be influenced by the video, despite the disclaimers. This research contributes to consumer behavior literature by evaluating the potential role of perceived authenticity, where influencers who appear relatable may exert persuasive power even in the absence of medical credentials or high follower counts. By extending persuasion theory into digital platforms, the findings provide insights for how engagement with social media shapes risk perception, while demonstrating potential limitations of disclaimers as regulatory safeguards. Together, these results offer healthcare professionals, platform designers, and policymakers concerned with the ethical communication of medical information online.

Grantor dc:publisher

Temple University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Hudson, Cheri

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Wadhwa, Monica

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Di Benedetto, C. Anthony
• Lu, Lu
• Wattal, Sunil

• Marketing
• Cosmetic procedures
• Digital persuasion
• Disclaimer framing
• Elaboration likelihood model
• Influencer marketing
• Social media
• Business administration and marketing

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://scholarshare.temple.edu/handle/20.500.12613/12193

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/12193