The impact of online medical team participation on physicians’ individual online service

As an emerging service mode in online health communities (OHCs), services provided by a team of medical professionals can provide more effective consultation services than individual professionals working in isolation, thus better meeting patients’ needs. However, little is known about the impact of team services on individual services in the OHC context. Based on signaling theory and the trust model, this study examines the effects of online medical team participation on physicians’ individual online service performance. We analyze a panel dataset from 4,509 physicians in 2,663 medical teams on a leading physician-driven OHC in China. The results indicate (1) the positive effect of physicians’ integrity and outstanding ability within the team, (2) the curvilinear effect of physicians’ benevolence during team service consultations, and (3) the moderating role of physicians’ background similarity and team size. Our results contribute to the literature on signaling theory and offer insights for practitioners and academicians.