• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.345-362
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• 2010

It is necessary to develop new competitive products under the world economic downturn. The medical tourism industry a good example and it has grown rapidly for last couple of years. This paper aims to investigate socio-demographic proxies of inbound medical tourists in Korea. In particular, the medical tourist behaviors are modeled by considering the factors such as acquisition process of medical tourism information, service level of medical tourism industry and the choice attributes. The results of this study are summarized that: 1) Moot inbound medical tourists are over 40-years old with professional occupation accompanied with families; 2) The information resources are mainly acquired from travel agents and WOM(Word of Mouth) such as friends and relatives; 3) Current problems are lack of various promotion channels and the competitiveness of medical coots; 4) The inbound medical tourists are not homogeneous but vary in different segments. The study suggests that various marketing strategies should be implemented for target market segments to promote Korea as a medical tourism hub.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.9 no.8
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• pp.7-16
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• 2018

Purpose - The effect of regional culture has been acknowledged for decades. However, very little research takes it as an important issue in the medical tourism service decision process. This study focuses on regional culture to identify customers' preference for medical tourism in the international environment. It is proposed that regional culture may work as an critical moderator in the international medical tourism destination choice process. Especially, the destination attributes may vary according to regional culture. Research design, data, and methodology - By the questionnaire survey, the sample is collected from 2,041 potential Chinese residents in different regions of China. Regression analysis is constructed to test the effect of regional culture on Chinese customers' destination preference. Results - Results imply that regional culture plays a critical moderating role in the destination choice process. Results also indicate that destination attributes including medicine and travel characteristics are the important predictors of destination preference. Conclusions - This study provides the fundamental base to use regional culture as a descriptive variable for segmentation when establishing an effective marketing strategy. Furthermore, this research suggests that different strategies relied on destination attributes should be made to attract more Chinese customers for the development of medical tourism industry.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.463-475
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• 2014

Medical tourism which is considered a new growth engine of the 21th century has been rapidly developing in the both quantity and quality. However, medical tourism products offered by our country are not enough to be differentiated according to the need of medical tourists. This study tried to search for the solutions in the medical tourism attributes. This confirmed whether the involvement of Hallyu(Korean wave) which has been growing steadily since 2000 affects medical tourism or not. For these purposes, there were 5 hypotheses set and empirical analysis was conducted through a survey. SPSS 20.0 statistical program was used for the empirical analysis and the established hypotheses were all adopted as a result of verification. It was thus confirmed that the involvement of Hanrye affected medical tourism attributes, satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Also, medical tourism attributes affected satisfaction and behavioral intentions.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.21-30
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• 2017

Purpose - This research approaches to the new niche market of medical tourism to investigate how factors of cultural similarity influence the international distribution management. This study also estimates the interaction effects of distribution channel on the relationships of facility attributes and customers' destination choice behavior. Research design, data, and methodology - We collected the sample of 881 potential customers from the more economically developed regions in China. Regression analysis is used to confirm the relationships in the research model. Results - The result shows that cultural similarity plays an important moderating role in the relationships of facility attributes and destination choice intention. For instance, power distance and masculinity interact with the distribution facility characteristics of medical quality and reputation to influence customers' selection of the destination country. Individualism, powder distance, and masculinity play moderating roles when social environment affects destination choice intention. Especially, all the elements of cultural similarity moderate the relationships between travel cost and destination choice intention. This research also proves that depending on distribution channel, determinants of distribution facility are the critical predictors of intention to select the medical service outside of China. Conclusions - The study enables managers to develop the more effective strategies reflecting the interaction effects of cultural similarity and distribution channel on customers' decision-making process.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.307-329
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• 2014

Medical tourism involves patients intentionally leaving their home country to access non-emergency health care services abroad. Growth in the popularity of this practice has resulted in a significant amount of attention being given to it from researchers, policy-makers, and the media. Yet, there has been little effort to systematically synthesize what is known about the effects of this phenomenon and key choice factors. This study seeks to figure out, using conjoint analysis, what factors Chinese medical tourists place importance on maximizing utility when selecting their destination and propose selection attributes that can lure medical tourists to Korea. Results showed that, of destination attributes, medical technology competitiveness proved be the most important and of lower levels, international accreditation proved to have the highest utility. This article presents the findings of valuable insights to medical institutions, travel agencies and related firms in their marketing activities.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.115-124
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• 2011

1. Objectives : This study aimed to provide practical insights on the development of traditional Korean medical tourism and maximize the satisfaction of foreign patients. The main objectives of this study were also to evaluate Sasang Constitutional Medicine(S.C.M.) diagnosis cost from foreigners' perspectives. 2. Methods : For this study, the data were collected from tourists to Korea between January 3, 2010 to February 20, 2010. The sample used in this study was mainly composed of Japanese, Chines and US/Canada, because they are the major national visitor origin group to Korea. The primary data were collected by questionnaire survey using a standardized instrument with a convenience sampling procedure, and efforts of the interviews involved an on-site, self-administrated questionnaire to those sitting or visiting tourist attractions. The total size of the sample was 276 of which 275 showed no missing value against the factors needed for final analysis and were for analysis as an effective sample. SPSS 13.0 for window was used to analyze the collected data on which descriptive statistics and the Limited Dependent(LIMDEP) 8.0 program was used in estimating the willingness-to-pay(WTP) for traditional Korean medical tourism through the Contingent Valuation Method(CVM). A dichotomous choice question form of a CVM was applied to estimating the value. 3. Results and Conclusion: 1. There was significant statistical relationship between attributes when considering medical tourism destination and socio-demographic profiles such as age group, nationality, educational level and occupation. 2. In the level of recognition on Korean medicine, north Americans showed low level of recognition compared to other nationalities. In addition, in terms of age group, 20's and 30's showed low level of recognition on Korean medicine, 3. In relation to the level of interest on Korean medicine, Japanese respondents had higher interesting level on Korean medicine. Also singles had higher level of interest. 4. Regarding preferred Korean medical treatment program, there found significant statistical relationship between Korean medical treatment program and socio-demographic characteristics. 5. The estimating result of the logit model showed that the variables affecting the WTP for Sasang Constitutional medicine diagnosis were offered price and potential ability of medical tourism destination. 6. In relation to WTP for Sasang Constitutional medicine diagnosis, Japanese respondents showed a WTP of USD 62.69 and Chinese respondents showed USD 57.09. On the other hands, respondents from north America and other countries showed a WTP of USD 65.50. In conclusion, from this study, the results found that the opportunities in tradition Korean medical tourism are immense and the possible rewards are numerous. It is time to continue to promote 'Sasang Constitutional medicine' and make the Korean medical tourism programs considering on nationalities, age group, gender and WTP.