US medical tourists' motives for travelling abroad for medical care and their expectations of service quality

The research aimed to determine if US medical tourists' expectations of the service quality of foreign healthcare facilities differ depending on their motives for travelling abroad for medical care. Results indicate that medical tourists who are motivated by the high cost of healthcare in the USA, are seeking the most advanced technology, want better care or desire higher quality treatment have significantly higher service quality expectations than medical tourists not motivated by the same factor. Results suggest using motives to segment medical tourists. The study also has implications for managing medical tourists' service quality expectations at the point of service delivery as well as via external marketing communications. As the first study to analyse medical tourists' motives and service quality expectations, the research establishes a foundation for future research on these interrelated topics.