A Look at Collaborative Service Provision: Case for Cosmetic Surgery Medical Tourism at Korea for Chinese Patients

Jungkun Park, Hoang Tran Phuoc Mai Le, Eklou R. Amendah and Dongyoup Kim
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Jungkun Park: School of Business, Hanyang University, 222 Wangshimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Korea
Hoang Tran Phuoc Mai Le: School of Business, Hanyang University, 222 Wangshimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Korea
Eklou R. Amendah: School of Business, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME 04104, USA
Dongyoup Kim: School of Business, Gachon University, 1342 Seongnam-daero, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam 13120, Korea

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-20

Abstract: Consumers admiring the beauty standards of other countries are approaching cosmetic surgery medical tourism. This study examines the roles of hospitals and facilitating agents as the main entities of cosmetic surgery medical tourism. 334 Chinese patients who underwent cosmetic surgery in Korea were collected and structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data. The results show that a hospital’s service quality in terms of tangibles, assurance, and empathy affect customers’ attitudes toward medical tourism for cosmetic surgery, which in turn, influences satisfaction with medical tourism. More importantly, facilitating agents’ service quality moderates the effects of hospitals’ service quality dimensions on service satisfaction. Findings extend the existing literature on medical tourism by identifying the roles of hospitals and facilitating agents to enhance customers’ attitudes and satisfaction with respect to collaborative service provision. Moreover, this research provides the first empirical evidence for the facilitating agents’ role in determining satisfaction with medical tourism.

Keywords: Chinese patient; medical facilitators; Korean hospitals; cosmetic surgery; medical tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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