Impact of Emotions and Social Support on Consumers of Health Care Systems

Abstract

The study attempts to understand the role of emotions in the decision of patients to consult a health care system and continue with the service provider; and to identify moderators to the impact of social support on negative emotions. Depth interviews have been conducted on customers of health care service providers to gain insights on patient emotions and perceived social support during illness. Interpretative phenomenological approach was used to understand the lived experiences of patients and derive themes and variables. It was found that health consciousness, negative symptoms and dependents moderate the relationship between social support and pre-consumption emotions; while trust, uncertainty of outcome and continuance commitment moderates the relationship between social support and consumption emotions. Findings also reveal that the intensity of pre-consumption negative emotions influences the speed of consulting the health care system; patients expect more social support from the health care system during the consumption stage; and the impact of social system-based social support on negative emotions is greater during the pre-consumption stage, while that of health care system is greater during the consumption stage.