Religious congregations and health information diffusion: Implications for viral marketing and peer referral programs

Abstract

While the acknowledgement of a link between religion and health is not new, the possibility of religious congregations as unique incubators for peer-to-peer health information diffusion remains relatively unexplored. To address that gap, this essay briefly reviews evidence of a mechanism through which religiosity affects altruistic behavior, discusses evidence that religious communities tend to foster health information sharing, and offers implications for applied communication practice.