The Internet has considerably more influence over consumer health decisions and actions than traditional channels like print, TV and radio, according to a new report from Manhattan Research.

"Health Influence Mapping: Benchmarking the Influence of Various Sources on Consumer Health Actions" points out that though the Internet's role in healthcare has soared over the past decade, healthcare professionals still have the strongest effect on consumer health behavior.

"With all the changes in media and healthcare, we think it's critical for marketers to take a step back and check their assumptions around the relative influence of various health sources on consumer behavior," said Monique Levy, senior director of research at Manhattan Research and lead author of the report. "We found many interesting results that can help marketers better align their marketing strategies in 2010. For example, despite the buzz around social media, editorial health content still has significantly more influence over consumer health actions than various forms of social media."

The new research is part of Manhattan Research's Cybercitizen Health v9.0 market research and strategic advisory service. It evaluates and benchmarks the relative influence of various online and offline health sources on consumer health decisions and actions with the goal of helping marketers better align and implement their marketing strategies.

Cybercitizen Health v9.0 was fielded in Q3 2009 among 8,600 U.S. adults, ages 18 and older.

The report covers these topics:

• Health influence mapping: Benchmarking the influence of various sources on consumer health actions;
• The relative influence of the Internet on consumer health decisions and actions;
• Profile of consumers highly influenced by Internet, TV, and doctors;
• Outlook: The evolving role of the Internet on consumer health; and
• Leveraging the health influence landscape for healthcare marketing.