Internal or External Word-of-Mouth (WOM), Why Do Patients Choose Doctors on Online Medical Services (OMSs) Single Platform in China?

Abstract

(1) Background: Word-of-mouth (WOM) can influence patients’ choice of doctors in online medical services (OMSs). Previous studies have explored the relationship between internal WOM in online healthcare communities (OHCs) and patients’ choice of doctors. There is a lack of research on external WOM and position ranking in OMSs. (2) Methods: We develop an empirical model based on the data of 4435 doctors from a leading online healthcare community in China. We discuss the influence of internal and external WOM on patients’ choice of doctors in OMSs, exploring the interaction between internal and external WOM and the moderation of doctor position ranking. (3) Results: Both internal and external WOM had a positive impact on patients’ choice of doctors; there was a significant positive interaction between internal and third-party generated WOM, but the interaction between internal and relative-generated WOM, and the interaction between internal and doctor-generated WOM were both nonsignificant. The position ranking of doctors significantly enhanced the impact of internal WOM, whereas it weakened the impact of doctor recommendations on patients’ choice of doctors. (4) The results emphasize the importance of the research on external WOM in OMSs, and suggest that the moderation of internal WOM may be related to the credibility and accessibility of external WOM, and the impact of doctor position ranking can be explained by information search costs.

The Role of User-Generated Content in the Sustainable Development of Online Healthcare Communities: Exploring the Moderating Influence of Signals

“…Benefiting from the continuous improvement of user engagement on online healthcare community in recent years, numerous scholars have conducted extensive research on User-Generated Content (UGC) in the field of online healthcare [4,15,16,44]. User-Generated Content refers to information spontaneously created by users on online community portals [45].…”

“…Previous research recognizes the positive impact of user-generated content on patient satisfaction and online healthcare service outcomes [3,15]. However, previous studies on online healthcare have mostly focused on patient-generated content such as online comments [4] and word-of-mouth [16,44]. Therefore, the research on different types of user-generated content and their differentiated effects remains relatively limited.…”

“…On the one hand, we reveal user-generated content as a precursor to patient decision-making. Previous research on online healthcare has examined the impact of user reviews on patient choice of healthcare providers [4,16,44]. These studies emphasize patient reviews as significant indicators influencing patient purchase behavior.…”

Forecasting healthcare service volumes with machine learning algorithms

“…Liu et al (2016) found through research that hospital level, physician rating, and title are the primary factors impacting appointment volume. Shen et al (2022) investigated the effects of internal and external word-of-mouth communication on patients' physician selection in online healthcare services. They conducted an in-depth exploration into the interplay between internal word-of-mouth (within the healthcare platform) and external word-of-mouth (outside the platform), as well as how a physician's position ranking on the platform moderates these relationships.…”