Mediator role of word-of-mouth communication and moderator role of COVID-19 fear in the effect of customer satisfaction on purchasing intention in healthcare marketing

In this study, it is aimed to examine the effect of customer satisfaction on intention to purchase, mediator role of word-of mouth and moderator role of Covid-19 fear in this effect within the scope of healthcare services marketing. In this regard, convenience sampling technique was used, and a survey was conducted on 1046 individuals who received healthcare services from public hospitals in Mardin city between March 2022 and November 2022. In survey questionnaire, Personal Information Form consisting of demographical questions, Customer Satisfaction Scale developed by Casalo et al. (2008) and adapted into Turkish by Bozkurt (2019) with 4 statements, Purchasing Intention Scale used by O'cass & Grace (2004) and Gilly et al. (1998) and adapted into Turkish by Kılıçer (2006) with 4 statements, Covid-19 Fear Scale developed by Ahorsu et al. (2020) and adapted into Turkish by Ladikli et al. (2020) with 7 statements, and Word-of-Mouth Communication Scale generated via the studies made by Bansal & Voyer (2000) and Frenzen & Davis (1990) with 15 statements, were used. Quantitative research method was used in the study, and SPSS 23.0 computer package program was used in data analysis. As the result of this research, it is found that customer satisfaction of healthcare services consumers has significant effect on their intention to purchase and word-of-mouth activities, their word-of-mouth activities has significant effect on their intention to purchase, word-of-mouth has mediator role and Covid-19 fear has moderator role in the effect of customer satisfaction on intention to purchase.