Exploring the cultural contradictions of medical tourism

Abstract

The globalization of medical services provides a useful tapestry to explore what Appadurai called the “complexity of the current global economy.” This study, employing a netnographic‐inspired exploration of internet‐based discussion forums along with other evidence, probes the cultural contradictions of medical tourism. Medical tourism offers the promise of affordable medical services in world‐class vacation destinations; yet this marriage of exotic world travel and affordable medical care is somewhat paradoxical. Images of jetsetters, traveling the globe on medical vacations, clash with the reality that low‐cost global medicine is often most attractive to those with little cultural and economic capital in society. Further contradictions emerge. Whereas some consumers perceive these so‐called medical tourists as abandoning the local market in pursuit of self‐serving interests, often medical tourists perceive themselves as abandoned as well – by the American healthcare system, and by society. Consumers not only demonstrate a desire to escape from local market constraints, but also want their taken‐for‐granted local rules, regulations and governance to follow them into the global marketplace. This study contributes to the growing body of research that seeks to explore consumer agency and market emancipation in the context of the social, cultural, political and financial complexities of the global cultural economy. Compelled to escape the constraints of the American market, medical tourism consumers seek out accommodating foreign markets but end up influencing the global markets to evolve into partial mirror images of the American medical system.