Effects of Online Physician Reviews and Physician Gender on Perceptions of Physician Skills and Primary Care Physician (PCP) Selection.

Physician review websites have become more relevant and important in people's selection of physicians. The current study experimentally examined how online physician reviews endorsing a primary care physician's (PCP's) technical or interpersonal skills, along with a physician's gender, may influence people's perceptions of the physician's skills and their willingness to choose the physician. Participants were randomly assigned to view a mockup physician review web page and to imagine that they needed to find a new PCP in a new city. They were then asked to report their perceptions of the physician and willingness to choose the physician as their PCP. The results suggested that people's willingness to choose a PCP was affected by physician reviews through their influence on people's perceptions of the PCP's technical and interpersonal skills. More importantly, this study found that when physician reviews endorsed a PCP's technical skills people perceived a female PCP to be more interpersonally competent than a male PCP and thus were more likely to choose the female PCP. The gendered perception, however, was not extended to a PCP's technical skills. Practical implications for health providers and consumers are discussed.

The Role of Humor in Messaging about the MMR Vaccine.

Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases have increased due, in part, to misconceptions about vaccine safety (Kennedy et al., 2011). Extant literature has examined various messages designed to correct false beliefs about vaccination risks and to urge parents to vaccinate their children. The present study is designed to contribute to this literature by drawing on the broader research and theory on resistance to persuasion and correcting false beliefs. We examine the effects of a humorous (vs. non-humorous) message about the importance of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine on parents' vaccine hesitancy. Results revealed that compared to a more serious message, a satirical message reduced reactance and led to greater perceptions of measles severity, which reduced vaccine hesitancy. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.