SOCIAL FACTORS INFLUENCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF DENTAL HEALTHCARE SERVICES CONSUMERS’ BEHAVIOR

Iuliana Petronela Gârdan,Gheorghe Epuran,Daniel Adrian Gârdan

doi:10.29358/sceco.v0i22.335

Iuliana Petronela Gârdan, Gheorghe Epuran + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.29358/sceco.v0i22.335

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Abstract

In case of dental care consumption, a very special influence will have the social factors. This influence, from the level of consumers’ behavior can be analyzed on two distinct levels – that of normatives impose by the social organization particular for the community that the individual live and that of the influences of the social groups that individual are interacting with. Dental healthcare services consumption is conditioned at the level of consumption motivations by complex needs which are not confined only to the physiological needs of removing pain caused by a certain dental condition, but are going towards the need of self-image improvement, increasing the appreciation offered by the others group members, the congruence with other consumers decisions within the group (family members, friends, colleagues etc). It is important to note in this context the fact that the influence exerted by consumers exogenous factors (external influences in which we can integrate those from the social groups also) will be combined with the one exerted by endogenous factors (personality, learning process, perceptions, attitudes, motivations etc), representing a continuum that shape consumers and allows in the same time the society shaping by them. The present article proposes a research conducted on dental healthcare services consumers. Results revealed the importance that a series of variables like the importance given to image in the workplace, family, friends and colleagues perception towards dental aesthetic, social class has in the context of consumer behavior. It is also noted that the influence of variables is mediated by the importance given to self-image, dental healthcare services consumption being determined by complex needs, consumption motivations being physiological – specific to some medical conditions and psychological – aesthetic or induced by the pressure corresponding to the need to comply with social norms.

Highlights

Consumer behavior represents a complex assembly of processes being interrelated with each other
To what extentdo you choose the dental medical treatment according to the customes of your residence area? To what extent does in counts for you the way that you are perceived by the family, friends or colleagues from the point of view of dental aestethic? Do you consider that the social class can determine the way in which the dental healthcare services are consumed?
Correlation analysis reveals that respondents with high incomes not necessarily agree with the fact that social status exerts a strong influence on dental healthcare services consumption behavior, while the opinion of the respondents will be very nuanced according to the occupation they have, so that, about 83% of those who declared themselves entrepreneurs considered that the status will influence a lot the dental healthcare services consumption behavior, followed by 67% of those from the category of public figures and respectively still 67% from the category of self-employed

Summary

Introduction

Consumer behavior represents a complex assembly of processes being interrelated with each other. The dental healthcare services consumption motivations found themselves in the zone of self-image improvement and level of appreciation from others For this reason the consumer behavior may become atypical – in relation with the purchasing power or other repetitive consumption decisions that the concerned persons can manifest. Literature review concerning influence of socio-economic factors upon the healthcare services consumers’ behavior Generally speaking, consumption can be seen according to the paradigm proposed by Veblen as being a social activity constrained by social norms and the structure of social classes From this point of view the relationship between social norms, social groups, social classes, cultural and subcultural traits and consumers’ behavior represents an intrinsic reality based on the social nature of relationships between individuals, and the different types of needs. Lack of multicolinearity presuppose that causal variables to be independent. (Malhotra, NK, Birks, DF, & Wills, PA, 2013)

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Findings

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