Medical Tourists’ Behavioral Intention in Relation to Motivational Factors and Perceived Image of the Service Providers

Medical tourism, where patients travel away from home to seek medical treatments, has grown rapidly over the past decade. Its rapid growth has attracted the attention of both the public and private sectors- the government and hospitals. The growth of medical tourism has led to the rising number of countries getting involved in this promising industry, which has become more competitive than ever. Hence, identifying the motivational factors is critically needed to understand and attract prospective international patients. Previous literature on tourism has indicated that motivational factors can influence the way how a tourist perceives the image of a service firm in the host country. This study aims to examine the relationships between motivational factors and hospital image, and to what extent hospital image is associated with medical tourists' behavioral intention. Data were collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling based on a sample size of 322 respondents. Results of this study show that the motivational factors are significantly related to hospital image, which in turn, positively related to medical tourists' behavioral intention. Implications of the findings on policy making and marketing strategy development in the medical tourism industry are discussed