Investigating healthcare hotel travelers’ overall image formation: Impact of cognition, affect, and conation

Abstract

Since there has been little empirical research on the phenomenon of healthcare hotels, this study examined them in order to provide a clear understanding of these facilities and international medical/healthcare tourists’ overall perspectives on them. A model was developed and tested that integrated conation into an existing theoretical framework related to image. A field survey was conducted to collect data. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate measurement quality, and a structural equation modeling was utilized to test research hypotheses and achieve study objectives. A series of modeling comparisons using a structural analysis were conducted. The test results verified the completeness of the proposed model and demonstrated the superiority of the proposed research framework, which comprises conative image factors as the most proximal determinants of overall image, over alternative models. In addition, the results of the structural analysis suggested that cognitive image involving perceived quality and value has a positive impact on affective image; affective image forms conative images involving visit intention and commitment, and conative image exerts a positive impact on overall image. Moreover, an examination of the indirect impact of study variables suggested that affective image and conative image components are necessary mediators in the model. Theoretical implications and the advertising and marketing implications for practitioners are discussed.