서비스 브랜드 자산이 신뢰 및 몰입에 미치는 영향: 의료 서비스를 중심으로

초록

As the competition in the healthcare service market is becoming more and more intense, brand equity emerges as one of the important competitive advantages. Relationships among service brand equity, customer satisfaction, trust and commitment have been studies in the past in service industries like hotels and restaurants, but research are fairly rare in healthcare service industries. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship among service brand equity, customer satisfaction, trust, and commitment in the sector of healthcare services. Specific objectives of the current research are three fold. First, the relationship between brand equity (brand awareness, brand image and perceived quality) and satisfaction with the brand is to be empirically investigated. Second, how brand satisfaction, brand loyalty, and switching cost can affect trust and commitment is also to be investigated. Finally, practical implications with regard to effective management of service brand equity, satisfaction, trust, and commitment in healthcare service markets are to be derived. Based on extensive reviews of previous research (on brand awareness, brand image, perceived quality, satisfaction, trust, and commitment), following research hypotheses were developed. H1-1: brand awareness positively affects brand satisfaction (in healthcare services). H1-2: perceived quality of a brand positively affects brand satisfaction. H1-3: brand image positively affects brand satisfaction. H2-1: brand satisfaction positively affects brand loyalty. H2-2: brand satisfaction positively affects brand loyalty. H2-3: brand satisfaction positively affects commitment. H2-4: brand satisfaction positively affects switching cost. H3-1: brand loyalty positively affects trust. H3-2: brand loyalty positively affects commitment. H4-1: switching cost positively affects brand loyalty. H4-2: switching cost positively affects commitment. H5: trust positively affects commitment. The hypotheses above were tested empirically by the data collected at two major hospitals that were believed to have excellent service brand equity by various secondary data - Asan Medical Center (AMC) and Samsung Medical Center (SMC). The sampling frame was the patients and their caretakers waiting for healthcare services at one of two hospitals. A total of 219 questionnaires were collected. Thirty two questionnaires with unsatisfactory responses were eliminated. Consequently 187 questionnaires were finally analyzed in this research. All of eight constructs in this study were measured on a 5 point measurement scale. Each construct was measured by 2 to three items. All measures showed satisfactory results on validity and reliability. Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.73 to 0.81. Structural equation model was employed to perform hypothesis testing in the current research. All hypotheses but H1-1, H1-2, H2-3, H3-1, and H4-1 were supported. The major findings of the research can be summarized as follows : (1) perceived quality affected brand satisfaction, (2) brand satisfaction was shown to have positive effects on brand loyalty, trust, and switching cost, (3) brand loyalty and switching cost were found to have positive influence on commitment, and (4) trust had positive effects on commitment. Implications for healthcare service managers and directions for future research were also suggested.