Scrutinization of positive and negative emotions among the relationship between physician and patient within the framework of consumer behavior

Aim of the thesis is to research how a physician's display of positive emotions toward a patient affects the patient's negative emotions toward the physician and the patient's satisfaction from the physician. Reviewing theoretical discussions, there are a few studies on the understanding of the relationship between a consumer's negative emotions and a service provider's positive emotions in health services. The importance of this research is to fill this theoretical gap and get consumer researchers attention to this topic. Due to the research's having an exploratory dimension, both qualitative and quantitative research methods are applied. In this sense, in-depth interviews and experimental consumer research method through questionnaires are applied. The analyses are composed of content analysis, independent sampling t test and multivariate hierarchical regression. As a result, a physician's display of positive emotions toward a patient makes the patients feel more negative with the dependency of the patient's psychological severity of her or his illness and age, and it affects their satisfaction from the physician negatively.