Do I comply with your suggestion or command? Exploring the persuasion effects of physicians’ expressions on online health platforms

Purpose In the business or service context, service providers’ suggestion is often more effective than their command for service recipients. In this study, we challenge this common belief regarding the relative effectiveness of both expressions in the unique physician-patient context with information asymmetry. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in persuasion theories, we examine the effects of physicians’ command and suggestion expressions on patients’ compliance intention, as well as the moderating effect of physicians’ online reputation. Findings Using approximately 140,000 online physician-patient dialogues on a leading health platform, we find that physicians’ command expression outweighs suggestion expression when persuading patients; the former has a positive effect but the latter has no effect on patients’ compliance intention. This positive effect of command is even magnified by physicians’ online reputation. Originality/value Our findings not only refresh our inherent understanding of persuasion but also provide actionable decision support for physicians and platform managers.