Table 3.
Descriptive statistics for scales used in the questionnaire to assess perceptions of the nutrition professional or social media influencers post; trustworthiness of post content, authenticity of post content, and perceived message appeals
| Nutrition Professional ¶ | Social Media Influencer ¶ | p ‡ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustworthiness | 3.8 (3.2, 4.2) | 3.4 (3.0, 4.0) | 0.001 |
| Authenticity | 4 (3.33, 5.0) | 4 (3.0, 4.33) | 0.016 |
| Perceived message appeal | |||
| Affiliation | 4.0 (4.0, 5.0) | 5.0 (4.0, 5.0) | <0.001 |
| Hope | 4.0 (4.0, 5.0) | 4.0 (4.0, 5.0) | 0.735 |
| Humour | 4.0 (3.0, 4.0) | 4.0 (3.0, 5.0) | 0.081 |
| Heroism | 4.0 (4.0, 5.0) | 4.0 (3.0, 5.0) | <0.001 |
| Ease/convenience | 3.0 (2.0, 4.0) | 3.0 (2.0, 4.0) | 0.109 |
| Guilt/shame | 1.0 (1.0, 3.0) | 1.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 0.001 |
| Sorrow | 1.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 1.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 0.377 |
| Fear | 1.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 1.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 0.415 |
‡ Significance at p < 0.05 using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. ¶ Reported as median score (25th, 75th percentile) of a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1—‘strongly disagree’, to 5—‘strongly agree’.