The Effects of Rapport-Building on Customer Attitude and Loyalty in Medical Service

Abstract

This study aims to empirically verify the structural relationships between rapport-building behaviors, customer attitudes, and customer loyalty in the domestic medical service environments in order to overcome the limitations of previous studies and to seek ways to secure competitive advantages and achieve sustainable growth of medical institutions. To that end, this study reviewed the concepts and dimensions of rapport-building behaviors of medical service providers, customer attitudes, and organizational loyalty through literature research, proposed a research model based on the results, and empirically verified the model. According to the results of the study, first, in the relationship between rapport-building behaviors and customer attitudes, uncommonly attentive behaviors and information-sharing behaviors were found to have positive effects on cognitive attitudes. In addition, uncommonly attentive behaviors, courteous behavior, and connecting behaviors were found to have positive effects on affective attitudes. Second, in the structural relationships among customer attitudes’ sub-dimensions, cognitive attitudes were found to have positive effects on affective attitudes. Third, in the relationship between customer attitudes and customer loyalty, cognitive attitudes and affective attitudes were found to have positive effects on customer loyalty. Finally, in the relationship between rapport-building behaviors and organizational loyalty, organizational attitudes were found to have indirect effects. Therefore, the fact that by understanding the rapidly changing medical service industry's competitive environment, and identifying the mechanism by which medical institutions’ patient-oriented service provision leads to the organizational performance of enhancing customer loyalty, this study presented a strategic directivity for the enhancement of the competitiveness of domestic medical institutions can be said to be the significance of this study. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.