Alphanumeric vs. Numeric Token Systems and the Healthcare Experience: Field Evidence from Healthcare Delivery in India

Shelly Rathee (), Kritika Narula (), Arul Mishra () and Himanshu Mishra ()
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Shelly Rathee: Department of Marketing, Villanova School of Business, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085
Kritika Narula: Analysis Group, Boston, Massachusetts 02199
Arul Mishra: Department of Marketing, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84322
Himanshu Mishra: Department of Marketing, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84322

Management Science, 2023, vol. 69, issue 2, 1180-1221

Abstract: Long wait times for patients are an important health policy issue in many countries, especially developing countries in which there is generally poorer health infrastructure, appointments are not very common, and the opportunity cost of competing life priorities is high. In this research, we examine via field experiments in health clinics in India whether providing numeric versus alphanumeric wait tokens can affect pain perceptions of patients and whether the type of tokens can also affect their wait-time perception and visit satisfaction. Our research provides initial evidence that alphanumeric tokens, in most cases, lead to lower pain perception, lower wait-time perception, and higher satisfaction levels with the healthcare system compared with numeric tokens. However, this is not always true; we also demonstrate boundary conditions when numeric tokens perform better and when the differences between tokens are attenuated. We conducted field experiments in three separate clinics and vary the type of tokens (numeric versus alphanumeric) used to test multiple token operationalizations in varied healthcare contexts. We explain our findings using the cognitive strategy of wait-time perception and discuss why this strategy is helpful for a developing country.

Keywords: healthcare; hospitals; marketing; decision analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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