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Electronic word of mouth about medical services

Author

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  • Hinz, Vera
  • Drevs, Florian
  • Wehner, Jürgen

Abstract

Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) about medical services gains growing popularity from the part of health care users, accompanied with a high reluctance of health care providers towards existing platforms, fearing unqualified, negative reviews driven by motives of vengeance. Purpose of this research is to shed light on the characteristics, content, and motives of eWOM about medical services. Using primary and secondary data of 822 reviews, this study shows that reviews about medical services are positive more often than negative, and that altruistic motives override egoistic motives. Furthermore, why a review is written significantly relates to the review's valence (positive, negative), degree of affectivity, and degree of differentiation. Motives and characteristics also affect the review's content, differentiated in four aspects (medical care, relationships, comfort, and processes). Hence this study counters the arguments of many health care providers and offers new insights in an underresearched field, providing implications for both management and future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Hinz, Vera & Drevs, Florian & Wehner, Jürgen, 2012. "Electronic word of mouth about medical services," hche Research Papers 2012/05, University of Hamburg, Hamburg Center for Health Economics (hche).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:hcherp:201205
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Duan, Wenjing & Gu, Bin & Whinston, Andrew B., 2008. "The dynamics of online word-of-mouth and product sales—An empirical investigation of the movie industry," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 233-242.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hofer, Florian & Birkner, Benjamin & Spindler, Martin, 2021. "Power of machine learning algorithms for predicting dropouts from a German telemonitoring program using standardized claims data," hche Research Papers 24, University of Hamburg, Hamburg Center for Health Economics (hche).
    2. Metehan Tolon & Tülay Yeniçeri & Asude Yasemin Zengin, 2015. "Complainants’ Justice Perceptions and Post Complaint Behaviours: An Empirical Study on E-Nwom, Exit Intentions and Venting Negative Feelings," Quarterly Journal of Business Studies, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 1(1), pages 1-16.
    3. Gerlinde Pauli & Sebastian Martin & Dorothea Greiling, 2023. "The current state of research of word-of-mouth in the health care sector," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 20(1), pages 125-148, March.
    4. Sebastian Martin, 2017. "Word-of-mouth in the health care sector: a literature analysis of the current state of research and future perspectives," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 14(1), pages 35-56, March.
    5. Milstein, Ricarda & Schreyögg, Jonas, 2022. "Activity-based funding based on diagnosis-related groups: The end of an era? A review of payment reforms in the inpatient sector in ten high-income countries," hche Research Papers 28, University of Hamburg, Hamburg Center for Health Economics (hche).
    6. Le Nguyen Hau, 2019. "The role of customer operant resources in health care value creation," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 13(3), pages 457-478, September.
    7. Pham Ngoc Thuy & Le Nguyen Hau & Nguyen Kim Ngoc Duyen, 2019. "A value perspective of service interaction quality: the case of immigrants returning to native countries as medical tourists," International Journal of Quality Innovation, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-15, December.

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    Keywords

    Electronic word of mouth; online reviews; health care management; hospitals;
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