Influencer Transparency and Public Trust in Health Communication Campaigns

Thesis Abstract

The study investigates how transparency practices by social media influencers shape public trust in health communication campaigns amidst rising concerns about misinformation and sponsored messaging. The core problem addressed is whether disclosures of sponsorship, affiliations, and methodological clarity regarding health claims influence perceived credibility, message acceptance, and behavioral intent among diverse audiences. The aim is to determine the mechanisms through which influencer transparency affects public trust and to identify contextual moderators that enhance or undermine this relationship. Specific objectives are (1) to examine the association between influencer transparency indicators (sponsorship disclosure, product claim clarity, and source credibility) and public trust in health messages; (2) to assess how transparency moderates the relationship between message persuasiveness and trust; (3) to evaluate differential effects across demographic groups (age, education, and health literacy) and platform types (short-form video vs. long-form content); (4) to explore audiences’ behavioral intentions to follow health recommendations issued by transparent versus non-transparent influencers; and (5) to propose a parsimonious model linking transparency, perceived integrity, credibility, and trust. The study adopts a mixed-methods design integrating a cross-sectional survey and a concurrent qualitative component. The population comprises adult social media users in three metropolitan areas with high health information engagement. A stratified random sample of 1,200 respondents will be recruited via online panels, with quotas to ensure representation by age (18–34, 35–54, 55+), education (high school, undergraduate, postgraduate), and health literacy levels. Data collection instruments include a structured questionnaire measuring transparency cues (disclosures, sponsorship clarity, source disclosure), trust constructs (trust in health information, perceived integrity, credibility), message persuasiveness, behavioral intentions (intent to act on health advice), and demographic controls; a separate semi-structured interview guide will elicit in-depth perceptions of transparency experiences and platform-specific differences. Validity and reliability will be established through content validity by a panel of health communication experts, pilot testing (n=60), Cronbach’s alpha for multi-item scales (target ? ? 0.70), and confirmatory factor analysis to validate the measurement model. Data will be analyzed using regression-based path analysis to test the hypothesized relationships among transparency, credibility, integrity, trust, and behavioral intention, with multi-group analysis to explore demographic and platform moderating effects. The qualitative data will undergo thematic analysis to elucidate contextual factors underlying quantitative findings and to identify nuanced perceptions of transparency mechanisms. Expected findings include (a) a positive association between explicit sponsorship and disclosure transparency with higher levels of perceived credibility and trust in health messages; (b) transparency moderating the impact of message persuasiveness on trust, such that highly transparent influencers yield stronger trust even for moderately persuasive content; (c) differential effects by health literacy and age, with younger and more health-literate audiences exhibiting greater sensitivity to disclosure quality; (d) platform differences, with short-form content showing stronger reliance on visible disclosures, while long-form content allows more comprehensive transparency signaling; and (e) a robust mediated pathway from transparency through perceived integrity to trust, subsequently influencing behavioral intentions to adopt health recommendations. The study contributes to knowledge by operationalizing a comprehensive transparency framework grounded in source credibility and ethical communication theories, integrating the Extended Elaboration Likelihood Model with the Theory of Planned Behavior to explain how transparency shapes trust and intention in health campaigns. Policy and practice implications include the need for standardized disclosure guidelines for health influencers, platform-level transparency features, and targeted health literacy interventions to enhance public discernment of sponsored health content. The main conclusion posits that explicit, consistent, and easily verifiable transparency cues significantly bolster public trust in health information disseminated by influencers, thereby enhancing the likelihood of adherence to health recommendations; recommendations emphasize promoting uniform disclosure standards, leveraging platform affordances for transparency, and further research into longitudinal effects of influencer transparency on health behaviors.