What shapes eHealth literacy of an individual?

This paper studies the ability of an individual in searching, analyzing and processing information from the Internet in order to address or solve health related issues, the so-called eHealth literacy and the factors that shape it. Understanding what influences eHealth in a country is particularly relevant for health markets as it provides guidelines for health marketers to develop targeted and tailored communication materials for relevant consumer segments, and further could suggest appropriate strategies for training the health illiterate part of the population. Using a unique sample based on survey data of 1064 individuals in Greece for the year 2013, we find that among demographic factors, age and education strongly affect the eHealth literacy and physical exercise among the life-style variables. Finally, other types of technology literacies such as computer skills and information obtained from the Internet further enhance the eHealth performance of an individual and have the greatest impact among all factors.