Online health behavior: Antecedents and outcomes of employee participation in an organization's online health program

Abstract

Working in organizations can result in health problems for employees, who may develop health conditions such as hypertension, cardiac problems, and obesity. To promote healthy behavior among employees, some companies use tailored online health platforms, which are customizable and accessible. Although these programs are available to all employees, they differ in terms of their participation, and we do not understand the reasons underlying variations in the use of these programs. We also have a limited understanding of the potential organizational outcomes of such participation. Thus, in this study, we develop a model of the antecedents and outcomes of employees’ participation in an organization's online health program. We propose that employees’ health beliefs, social influence to participate, and intention to participate influence their participation in an organization's online health program, which is associated with their health behavior within the organization. In turn, employees’ organizational health behavior influences organizationally relevant outcomes through mediation by availability of task- and family-related support from coworkers. We tested our model through a four-phase, multisource study by using data from 331 employees working in an Indian information technology company. Results generally supported our model. Our findings contribute to our knowledge of employees’ health behavior by examining why they may participate in online health programs and how their participation may promote health behavior and lead to organizationally relevant outcomes.