Volume 11, Number 1, June 2016
| Exploration on the Relationship between Patient Satisfaction, Relationship Inertia and Loyalty–Switching Barriers as the Moderator |
Abstract
This study aims to combine medical treatment frequency, perceived price and convenience, to propose a medical patient satisfaction model to explore the relationship between patient satisfaction, relationship inertia and loyalty, and further inspect whether the switching barriers will moderate the path relationships in the patient satisfaction model. There are 482 effective questionnaires collected by this study, and structural equation modeling was applied to verify the path relationships in the patient satisfaction model. The result of this study found that patient loyalty will be positively impacted by patient satisfaction and relationship inertia. Patient satisfaction will also indirectly and positively impact patient loyalty through relationship inertia. In addition, patient relationship inertia will be positively impacted by convenience and medical treatment frequency, and patient satisfaction will be positively impacted by convenience and perceived price. In particular, this study confirmed the moderating role of switching barriers in the patient satisfaction model.
Keywords: Patient Satisfaction, Relationship Inertia, Patient Loyalty, Switching Barriers
JEL Classification: M3, Z00