Understanding the Word-of-Mouth of physiotherapist's patients in Austria

More and more patients demand to co-determine their healthcare providers and treatments (Liang/Scammon 2011). As the evaluation of healthcare is difficult (e.g., Berry/Bendapudi 2007), “[p]atients are showing increasing... [ view full abstract ]

More and more patients demand to co-determine their healthcare providers and treatments (Liang/Scammon 2011). As the evaluation of healthcare is difficult (e.g., Berry/Bendapudi 2007), “[p]atients are showing increasing interest in obtaining valid information on healthcare quality“ (Niehues et al. 2012, p. 5). An important source of such health information is the so called word-of-mouth (WOM) (Streuf et al. 2007; Lis/Neßler 2014; Siems/Gestandl 2009; Silverman 2001). Current WOM research strongly emphasizes recommendations of hospital patients. A research gap exists when it comes to the WOM regarding other healthcare providers, such as physiotherapists (Martin 2016). Still, particularly physiotherapists face an increasing competition (Westendorf et al. 2013). For them, it becomes crucial to understand how potential patients choose their therapist. Especially, word-of-mouth might strongly influence such physiotherapist selection and is therefore more deeply investigated in this paper. A theoretical framework consisting of the theory of perceived risk, the theory of cognitive dissonance and the "The strength of weak ties" theory, is used to theoretically explain the WOM behavior of Austrian patients in physiotherapy. In this context, the theory of perceived risk by Bauer (1967) and Cox (1967) as well as theory of cognitive dissonance by Festinger (1957) provide potential motivations for the seeking and distributing of WOM-information. "The strength of weak ties" theory (Granovetter 1973) offers an explanation regarding the flow of WOM-information through interpersonal networks. In addition to the theoretical framework, a standardized questionnaire was completed by 77 patients of physiotherapists in the area of Salzburg Austria. In the case of blood donation, a study of Martin et al. (2016) stated a different WOM behavior between Austrian citizen living in urban and citizens living in rural areas. Therefore this study included, both, physiotherapist’s patients in the urban area of Salzburg as well as patients in the rural areas around Salzburg. The results show that most of the patients in rural and urban areas have chosen their physiotherapist because family members or friends recommended him or her to them. The patients of physiotherapists are highly motivated to recommend their therapist to family members, close and not so close friends. When asked, patients would even give out the contact details of their therapist. In contrast to traditional face-to-face WOM, electronic WOM seems to play a rather subordinate role in the dissemination of recommendations.