| dc.description.abstract | Nowadays, health services trade (otherwise called medical tourism) is becoming more and
more popular (20% annual growth worldwide). Due to that, competition in the field is also
increasing; thus, in order to stay competitive, one must understand medical tourists’ behaviour
and act accordingly. With this in mind, the purpose of the research is to investigate consumer
behaviour in medical tourism and analyse health service exports’ attractiveness in Lithuania.
By using a case study of a local medical tourism facilitator Wellness Travels, the research
investigates what changes would improve Wellness Travels’ attractiveness to their customers
and competitive position in the market. A well-balanced empirical research is made, including
an analysis of previous literature, semi-structured interviews with medical tourism
stakeholders, secondary data from the field and a quantitative survey to (potential) medical
tourists. All this is summarised through the 4P Analysis and the Theory of Planned Behaviour
to bring practical conclusions that can be implemented by Wellness Travels within their
international strategy. Results show that lower price, shorter waiting time and higher quality
of medical treatment positively influence medical tourists’ satisfaction. At the same time,
perceived behavioural control, attitudes and subjective norms towards Wellness Travels
positively influence medical tourists’ behavioural intention to choose the company’s services.
Furthermore, those who are younger, earning less, are living not in their home country or have
been on a medical tourism trip before have a higher intention of going abroad for a medical
tourism trip. Such consumer behaviour insights help the company to create a well-balanced
marketing mix strategy designed to increase their competitiveness. At the same time, a
theoretical basis for further research on the topic is put by proving that the Theory of Planned
Behaviour can be well used to understand consumer behaviour in the medical tourism industry. | nb_NO |
