An expectation confirmation perspective of medical tourism

Abstract

Medical tourism has been suggested to have a huge impact on the global economy. To date, however, very little attention has been paid to the cognitive and affective perspectives of medical tourism. In this study, we used the expectation confirmation theory as the theoretical base and empirically examined the impact of expectations, perceived performance, and satisfaction on medical tourists’ intentions to continue the usage of overseas medical services. A total of 118 participants were analyzed using partial least squares technique and the results illustrated that overseas medical service expectation was related to perceived overseas medical service performance, which in turn determined the confirmation of expectation. The results also demonstrated that medical tourists’ confirmation of expectation predicted their satisfaction, which in turn affected their intentions to continue the usage of overseas medical service. Findings of this study may help medical service providers improve their medical services more effectively.