Consumer Choice of Private Hospital in South Africa: The Role of Branding in Purchase Criteria

• 作 者: ClaireSim[1]ProfGeoffreyBick[2]
• 机 构: Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa
• 出 处: 2014年中国市场营销国际学术年会
• 发表日期: 2014年期

　　The private healthcare group in South Africa is dominated by the three major hospital brands Netcare,Mediclinic and Life healthcare.It is important therefore to understand the factors that affect patient choice of private hospital,and the relative importance of hospital branding on patient choice.Quantitative methodology was used,with a survey questionnaire completed by a convenience sample of 186 respondents.Factor analysis identified 5 factors affecting patient choice of private hospital: hospital branding,physician recommendation,staff attitude,functional decision criteria,and quality of service of the available offering.Hospital branding came out as the factor with the highest eigen value and accounted for the majority of the variance explained by the variables.Therefore hospital managers should incorporate these factors into improving the service to their patients and should recognise the importance that branding plays within the private healthcare sector.