Digital Reputation Management in American Cancer Hospitals: A Proposed Model

Abstract

Cancer patients face complicated situations from an emotional, social and physical perspective. Hospitals help them through implementing corporate communication initiatives based on social media platforms. This win-win relationship allows hospitals to reinforce their brand reputation. This paper aims to better understand how cancer hospitals manage social media platforms for enhancing their brand as well as their relationships with stakeholders. To do that, we carried out a literature review about corporate communication in health organizations, as well as a content analysis about how the top 100 American cancer hospitals managed their corporate website as well as their corporate profile on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for branding initiatives. Finally, we proposed the Reb Model for Branding Cancer Hospitals. We concluded that thanks to social media, cancer hospitals can reinforce their brand because these platforms allow them to promote human values, improve their internal processes and become a true source of scientific information.