This study aimed to examine the association between Social Network Services (SNS) based dental advertising engagement and experiences with unethical dental marketing, focusing on the mediating effects of digital addiction and hospital choice based on ...
This study aimed to examine the association between Social Network Services (SNS) based dental advertising engagement and experiences with unethical dental marketing, focusing on the mediating effects of digital addiction and hospital choice based on SNS. The participants were 247 adults aged 20 years and older residing in the Busan and Gyeongnam regions who had encountered at least one dental-related advertisement on SNS platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, or KakaoStory within the past year. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted from July 18 to September 18, 2025. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 29.0, with the significance level set at 0.05. Analytical methods included cross-tabulation, one-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and mediation analysis.
The results revealed that SNS-based dental advertising engagement showed a significant positive correlation with digital addiction (r=0.211, p<.001), SNS-based hospital choice(r=0.483, p<.001), and unethical dental marketing experience (r=0.296, p<.001). Digital addiction was also positively correlated with unethical dental marketing experience(r=0.318, p<.001). In addition, SNS-based hospital choice demonstrated significant positive associations with both SNS-based dental advertising engagement(r=0.483, p<.001) and unethical dental marketing experience(r=0.301, p<.001). Mediation analysis indicated that digital addiction had a partial mediating effect on the relationship between SNS-based dental advertising engagement and unethical dental marketing experience(indirect effect=.031, direct effect=.140, total effect=.170, p<.05). Similarly, SNS-based hospital choice also exhibited a partial mediating effect in this relationship(indirect effect=.060, direct effect=.110, total effect=.170, p<.05). These findings suggest that consumers’ cognitive and behavioral responses to SNS advertisements influence their exposure to unethical dental marketing. The study highlights the need for digital addiction management and education on accurate information literacy to minimize consumer harm resulting from excessive competition in social media dental advertising. Furthermore, the results provide foundational data for the ethical regulation of SNS medical marketing and the establishment of a patient-centered healthcare decision-making environment.