A study about the effecting factors of service buying decisions of health tourism in Turkey

"Health tourism" is one of the most prominent type of the tourism segment and has turned into an important source of income throughout the world in recent years. The service quality of the healthcare that health tourists obtain in the countries of destination they were going, is the most important factor that affects the success of health tourism. This study proposes a conceptual model which investigates the effects of service quality on health tourists and focuses on its benefits to Turkey. According to the results of the research conducted in seven different health institutions in İstanbul it has emerged that, 1) service quality creates cosmopolitanism emotion on health tourists, 2) people perceives the components of country image positively with cosmopolitanism where they receive health care, 3) service quality affects patient satisfaction positively, 4) patient satisfaction affects purchase intentions in a positive way, 5) cosmopolitanism has a partial mediator variable effect between the service quality and country image constructs, 6) patient satisfaction has a partial mediator variable effect between the service quality and purchasing intentions.