Destination Choice of Medical Tourists: An American Market Segmentation

Abstract

Global health care and the services it provides are changing rapidly with the development and advancement for our societies. This is due in large part to advanced technology and rising costs and high demand of medical treatments. These factors have created a booming industry in medical tourism. This growth has lead to the need of research of the market and those who participate in medical tourism. This research aims to identify the factors that influence destination choice of potential medical tourists through the identification of variables that affect destination choice as well as individual attributes of potential participants. A discrete choice modeling approach is used to address the operational challenges of incorporating behavioral elements in choice analysis. Also, a multinomial logistic model was used to gain a deeper understanding affects potential participants’ destination choice. The research reveals that attitude towards health, desired treatments, and information source are significant variables in medical tourism destination choice. The study also shows that socio-demographics affect destination choice. Most notably, gender (male), experience living abroad, and experience with medical treatments abroad affect destination choice.