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KMID : 0926620100150040143
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Korean Journal of Hospital Management
2010 Volume.15 No. 4 p.143 ~ p.164
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A Study on the Effects of Word-of-Mouth’s Marketing Factors and Medical-Care Service Purchase
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Choi Ho
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Abstract
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Although word-of-mouth (WOM) has been regarded as one of the very important topics in consumer research, its effects on other aspects of consumer behavior have been scarcely investigated in the context of health-care service industry. The WOM literature also suggests that it is essential for medical care service organizations in fierce competition to adopt WOM communication as a competitive weapon so as to be able to stay ahead of competition. The goal of this research was set to empirically study various relationships between antecedent variables, WOM acceptance, and purchase of medical care services. Specifically, drawing on the WOM literature, eight antecedents to WOM acceptance were selected first. Based on the relevant literature, seven sets of hypotheses on the relationships among antecedents to WOM, WOM acceptance, purchase intention and purchase of medical services were developed. Data were collected via an on-line survey. A total of 571 out of 600 responses turned out to be usable. The major findings of this study can be summarized as follows: First, 6 out of 8 antecedent variables to WOM acceptance were found to be positively affect WOM acceptance. However, the effects of (1)“newness of technology”pertaining to medical care service characteristics and (2) “involvement in health”, one of receiver characteristics, were found to be insignificant. Second, most moderating effects on the relationship between purchase and purchase intention of medical care services were found to be insignificant with one exception. That is, elapse of time was found to be a marginally significant moderator on the relationship between purchase and purchase intention of medical care services. Third, it was found that the higher the WOM acceptance, the higher the purchase intention of medical care services. Finally, the effect of WOM acceptance was found to be particularly strong when WOM contents were perceived as useful and positive. Overall, it seems essential for hospitals to actively adopt WOM communication as a competitive marketing tool if they plan to improve their business performance. In this respect, the current study may serve to improve the business performance of hospitals by way of providing theoretical and empirical evidence on the effects of WOM communication variables on WOM acceptance and medical care service purchase.
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KEYWORD
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Word-of-Mouth (WOM), WOM acceptance, Purchase Intention, Purchase of Medical Services
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