Development and Experiential Analysis of a Chinese Customer Satisfaction Model for Medical Service Industry

The purpose of this research was to construct a Chinese customer satisfaction model for medical services and to identify the key elements that influence customer satisfaction. Eighty seven valid responses from inpatients were collected using a survey questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was employed to estimate and adjust the proposed model. The results showed that perceived quality, expected quality, and information were three important antecedents influencing customer satisfaction, and that perceived quality was the strongest antecedent of customer satisfaction and that loyalty was the strongest consequence. Information had relatively low direct effect on customer satisfaction while it indirectly affected customer satisfaction considerably through the other antecedents of perceived quality and expected quality. This research provides hospital managers with information on the aspects to be emphasized with regarding to customer satisfaction and, also, highlights the importance of increasing customer satisfaction when seeking customer loyalty.