Digital opportunities to connect and complain - the use of Facebook in small animal practice
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Digital opportunities to connect and complain - the use of Facebook in small animal practice. / Springer, Svenja; Lund, Thomas Bøker; Sandøe, Peter; Corr, Sandra A.; Kristensen, Annemarie T.; Grimm, Herwig.
In: Veterinary Record Open, Vol. 9, No. 1, e29, 2022.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Digital opportunities to connect and complain - the use of Facebook in small animal practice
AU - Springer, Svenja
AU - Lund, Thomas Bøker
AU - Sandøe, Peter
AU - Corr, Sandra A.
AU - Kristensen, Annemarie T.
AU - Grimm, Herwig
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Background Social media is increasingly used in small animal practice, enabling veterinarians to connect with clients and promote their business online. It can also be used by clients to quickly distribute complaints via online communities. Material/methods Using a questionnaire study we investigated Austrian, Danish and UK veterinarians' attitudes towards Facebook, the contents of clients' online complaints and how they were handled by veterinarians (N = 648). Results In Denmark and the UK, around 90% of practices had a Facebook page, in contrast to 40% of Austrian practices. Most Danish and UK veterinarians agreed that the use of Facebook was relevant and expected by clients. Agreement was lower among Austrian veterinarians, probably reflecting the lower uptake of social media there. In particular, younger veterinarians and those who actively used Facebook for the practice, could see benefits. In all three countries, we found that clients most frequently complained about treatment costs. Most veterinarians preferred to actively deal with clients' complaints, either replying online or discussing them directly. Conclusions We recommend future research focusing on veterinarians' personal use of social media and on clients' use of and attitudes towards social media in the veterinary context.
AB - Background Social media is increasingly used in small animal practice, enabling veterinarians to connect with clients and promote their business online. It can also be used by clients to quickly distribute complaints via online communities. Material/methods Using a questionnaire study we investigated Austrian, Danish and UK veterinarians' attitudes towards Facebook, the contents of clients' online complaints and how they were handled by veterinarians (N = 648). Results In Denmark and the UK, around 90% of practices had a Facebook page, in contrast to 40% of Austrian practices. Most Danish and UK veterinarians agreed that the use of Facebook was relevant and expected by clients. Agreement was lower among Austrian veterinarians, probably reflecting the lower uptake of social media there. In particular, younger veterinarians and those who actively used Facebook for the practice, could see benefits. In all three countries, we found that clients most frequently complained about treatment costs. Most veterinarians preferred to actively deal with clients' complaints, either replying online or discussing them directly. Conclusions We recommend future research focusing on veterinarians' personal use of social media and on clients' use of and attitudes towards social media in the veterinary context.
KW - complaints
KW - Facebook
KW - questionnaire survey
KW - small animal practice
KW - social media
KW - veterinary medical ethics
KW - VETERINARIANS
U2 - 10.1002/vro2.29
DO - 10.1002/vro2.29
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 35251668
VL - 9
JO - Veterinary Record Open
JF - Veterinary Record Open
SN - 2052-6113
IS - 1
M1 - e29
ER -
ID: 300450735