Meng Chung Kin, Piaralal Shishi Kumar, Islam Md Aminul, Yusof Mohd Faizal Bin, Chowdhury Rubaiyat Shaimom
Kokoro Development SDN BHD, Malaysia.
Faculty of Business Management, Open University Malaysia, Malaysia.
Heliyon. 2023 Sep 9;9(9):e19721. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19721. eCollection 2023 Sep.
Medical tourism, a thriving industry encompassing both healthcare and tourism sectors, has experienced exponential growth over the past decades. The intensifying competition within the global market necessitates a closer examination of the pivotal role played by the perceptions of medical tourists in their decision-making process regarding health destination visits. Thus, this study aims to explore the interplay between international medical tourists' perceptions of health resort attractions and their expectations, while also investigating the mediating effect (expectations) of these perceptions on their behavioral intentions to seek medical and healthcare treatments in a Malaysian health resort. Drawing on the Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this research employed a quantitative research method, surveying 386 international medical tourists. The distribution of the survey questionnaire utilized the online internet email method. The study employed the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method to examine the hypothesized relationships. The results conclusively support the positive influence of health resort attractions on international medical tourists' expectations and behavioral intentions. Consequently, this study provides valuable implications for the future growth and development of the health resort and medical tourism industry in Malaysia.
医疗旅游是一个蓬勃发展的行业，涵盖医疗保健和旅游两个领域，在过去几十年中呈指数级增长。全球市场竞争日益激烈，这就需要更深入地研究医疗游客的认知在其选择健康旅游目的地的决策过程中所起的关键作用。因此，本研究旨在探讨国际医疗游客对健康度假胜地吸引力的认知与其期望之间的相互作用，同时研究这些认知对他们在马来西亚健康度假胜地寻求医疗和保健治疗的行为意图的中介作用（期望）。本研究借鉴期望确认理论（ECT）和计划行为理论（TPB），采用定量研究方法，对386名国际医疗游客进行了调查。调查问卷的分发采用在线互联网电子邮件方式。本研究采用偏最小二乘结构方程模型（PLS-SEM）方法来检验假设关系。结果确凿地支持了健康度假胜地吸引力对国际医疗游客的期望和行为意图的积极影响。因此，本研究为马来西亚健康度假胜地和医疗旅游行业的未来增长与发展提供了有价值的启示。
