중국인 의료관광객의 의료서비스 이미지, 지각위험과 구매의도

Medical Service Image, Perceived Risk, and Purchasing Intention of Chinese Medical Tourists

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to analyze how medical service images and perceived risk will affect the purchasing intention of Chinese medical tourists. Design/methodology/approach–Via a survey, this study collected 104 Chinese respondents visiting Korea. In order to verify the discriminant validity and convergent validity of each construct, cognitive image, affective image, malpractice risk, and purchasing intention, confirmatory factor analysis of the measurement model and path analysis using structural equation modeling were conducted. Findings–The key findings of this paper reveal that cognitive image of medical service in Korean medical institution is negatively related to malpractice risk. The highly perceived malpractice risk has a negative strong impact on purchasing intention. However, the affective image of medical service did not have a negative effect on malpractice risk. The positive affective image of medical service has a limitation to offset malpractice risk such as the physical damage and sequela. Research implications or Originality–The factors constituting medical service image were classified into cognitive and affective images and conceptualized in two dimensions. In order to reflect the inherent risks involved in medical tourism, the perceived risk was conceptualized as a malpractice risk. To fully explain the purchasing behavior of medical tourists, it is necessary to consider not only facilitating factors affecting the positive benefits of medical tourism but also inhibiting factors such as malpractice risk.