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KMID : 0926620130180020057
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Korean Journal of Hospital Management
2013 Volume.18 No. 2 p.57 ~ p.80
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A study on medical consumers’consumption value and online information search characteristics
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Ahn Chang-Hee
Ha Ji-Hyun
Lee Seo-Young
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Abstract
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The purpose of this study is to examine the information search behavior of medical consumers visiting a hospital, and investigate the consumption values of medical consumers, classified according to the information search behavior, and characteristics of online health and disease information. This study also tried to identify the factors affecting medical consumers classified according to information search behavior, and gain an extensive understanding of medical consumers’consumption values and online information use. The analysis results of this study are as follows: First, the consumption values of medical consumers were classified into a total of 7 factors, i.e. future-positive value, family-oriented value, sustainablehealth value, rational-progressive value, social-cooperative value, socialachiever value and hedonistic-individual value. Next, the characteristics of medical consumers’online information search behavior were classified into three types of consumer groups, i.e. the limited information-oriented consumer group, the practical information-oriented consumer group and the passionate information-oriented consumer group. Second, the analysis of the differences among the three groups classified according to the characteristics of the information search behavior in terms of consumption values, use of online information sources, utility and the intention to reuse online information showed that all the differences were statistically significant. The passionate information-oriented consumer group showed the highest scores in the sustainable-health value, the social-achiever value and the hedonisticindividual value. Third, the factors affecting medical consumers, classified into three groups according to the characteristics of the information search behavior, were found to be socio-demographic variables like consumers’ age and occupation, consumers’consumption values, use of online information sources, and utility of online information. This study tried to understand what values medical consumers have according to the differences in the information search behavior by examining the consumption values of medical consumers according to the information search behavior. The significance of this study lies in the fact that consumption values are instrumental in understanding medical consumers by identifying the fundamental motives and desires of consumers’ behavior.
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KEYWORD
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medical consumer consumption value, online information search behavior
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