Individual motivation and social influence: a study of telemedicine adoption in China based on social cognitive theory

Objectives In recent years, telemedicine has emerged in China to help address problems concerning access to and the cost of medical treatment. The aim of this study was to explore the factors influencing residents’ adoption of telemedicine services. Methods Using social cognitive theory, we analyzed individual and environmental factors that influence patients’ behavioral intentions with respect to telemedicine. We distributed questionnaires to patients who had used telemedicine in Dongtai, and 279 valid samples were collected. Results The reliability and validity were acceptable. Eight of the 9 hypotheses were supported at the 0.05 significance level. Motivation had positive correlations with self-efficacy and trust, self-rated health was positively correlated with trust, subjective norms were positively correlated with self-efficacy and trust, institution size was positively correlated with trust, and self-efficacy and trust were positively correlated with patients’ intentions to use telemedicine. Conclusions Motivation and subjective norms can promote behavioral intentions by promoting self-efficacy and trust, and self-rated health and institution size can promote behavioral intentions by promoting trust. These findings explain the antecedents of patients’ behavioral intentions to use telemedicine and support specific policy recommendations for the development of telemedicine services.