How do you cope? Online medical consultation service uncertainty, coping strategies, and subsequent payment

Abstract

Online medical consultation (OMC) based on a multisided market model is an increasingly popular healthcare service; however, encouraging consumers to continuously use the service and make an additional payment for service upgrades is challenging. One of the key inhibitors of such payments is consumers’ perceived uncertainty about OMC services. It is necessary to understand how consumers cope with OMC service uncertainty. Drawing on a theory contextualization approach, we identify three categories of service uncertainty relevant to the OMC from the literature, which are further contextualized in the qualitative and survey studies. Moreover, by adapting three well-established coping mechanisms (i.e., problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidance), we examine how healthcare consumers employ OMC-specific coping strategies when faced with OMC service uncertainty, as well as how these strategies impact subsequent payment for service upgrades. We tested our research model through a series of OMC consumer surveys along with structural model analyses. The results show that high OMC service uncertainty reduces problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies but increases the avoidance strategy. The perceived value of OMC moderates the effect of uncertainty on both problem-focused coping and avoidance. Emotion-focused coping is positively associated with subsequent payment intention, whereas avoidance has a negative impact.