INFORMATION RESEARCH

Research on Purchase Behavior of Online Medical Consultation Services Based on Signal Theory

  • Cao Xianye ,
  • Liu Yongmei ,
  • Li Jialing ,
  • Zhu Zhangxiang
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  • 1. School of Management, Hunan University of Technology and Business, Changsha 410205;
    2. School of Business, Central South University, Changsha 410083;
    3. School of tourism, Hunan Normal University, Changice signal

Received date: 2022-06-15

  Revised date: 2022-09-25

  Online published: 2022-12-27

Abstract

[Purpose/Significance] Research on the influence mechanism of intrinsic and extrinsic cues of online medical consultation service quality and consulting prices on patients’ purchasing behavior can provide practical guidance for the pricing of the medical platform and promote the development of online medical services. [Method/Process] Two collected data of 7 915 doctors in the Good Doctor Online Platform was used to build the logarithmic regression models of purchase behavior of online medical consultation service, and this paper tested the positive effect of intrinsic cues of service quality(interaction frequency, response speed and the amount of information), extrinsic cues (e-WOM, outpatient registration number and consulting price), and the moderating effect of consulting price on the purchase behavior of patients. [Result/Conclusion] The results show that the interaction frequency, response speed, amount of information, e-WOM, outpatient registration number and consulting price of a physician have a positive impact on purchase behavior of online patients, and the consulting price moderates the interaction frequency, response speed, information content, doctor’s popularity, the outpatient registration number on purchase behavior of online patients. The results provide important practical guidance for online medical platforms and physiciaice signal

Cite this article

Cao Xianye , Liu Yongmei , Li Jialing , Zhu Zhangxiang . Research on Purchase Behavior of Online Medical Consultation Services Based on Signal Theory[J]. Library and Information Service, 2022 , 66(24) : 51 -63 . DOI: 10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2022.24.005

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