Value-Based Market Segmentation of West Asian Medical Tourism Market: A Case of Iran
-
Leila Torkzadeh
,
Habib Jalilian
,
Hojjat Rahmani
,
Milad Bakhshi
,
Saeed Hashemzadeh
,
Mohammad Faryabi
,
Rahim Khodayari-Zarnaq
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Identifying different groups of customers and their preferences and needs enable countries to gain a competitive advantage in the medical tourism market. We aimed to segment medical tourists from West Asian countries seeking medical services in Iran.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 596 medical tourists who sought medical services in Iran in 2021. Data were collected using a valid questionnaire. Segmentation was performed based on medical tourism attributes (medical, destination, and tourism attributes), using cluster analysis methods; wards, and K means. The segments ' evaluation and profiling were conducted using discriminant analysis, chi-square, and one-way ANOVA tests.
Results: Our study divided the market into five segments: health seekers (3.8%), health and destination seekers (8.9%), tourism seekers (17.8%), infrastructure seekers (10.23%), and perfectionism (59.45%). In all segments, the health attributes were of high importance. The perfectionism segment registered the highest score in all three attributes (more than 5 of 6).
Conclusion: Improving health attributes and offering luxurious medical services can be the main strategy for Iran to attract the most medical tourists and achieve a good position in this marketplace. The implication of this study is policymaking for targeting the most profitable segment of this marketplace.
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21. Jayakody A, Bryant J, Carey M, Hobden B, Dodd N, Sanson-Fisher R(2016). Effectiveness of interventions utilising telephone follow up in reducing hospital readmission within 30 days for individuals with chronic disease: a systematic review. BMC Health Serv Res, 16(1):403.
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24. Park PHP(2018). Destination Attribute and Tourist Destination Choice of Port Harcourt Pleasure Park and Obudu Mountain Resort. International Journal of Advanced Studies in Ecology, Development and Sustainability, 5(1):161-181.
25. Loi LTI, So ASI, Lo IS, Fong LHN(2017). Does the quality of tourist shuttles influence revisit intention through destination image and satisfaction? The case of Macao. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 32:115-23.
26. Lee C-W, Li C(2019). The process of constructing a health tourism destination index. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 16(22):4579.
27. Palumbo R, Annarumma C, Manna R, Musella M, Adinolfi P (2021). Improving quality by involving patient. The role of health literacy in influencing patients’ behaviors. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 14: 144-152
28. Sadeh E, Garkaz M(2019). Interpretive structural modeling of quality factors in both medical and hospitality services in the medical tourism industry. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 36(2):253-67.
2. Beladi H, Chao C-C, Ee MS, Hollas D(2019). Does medical tourism promote economic growth? A cross-country analysis. J Travel Res, 58(1):121-35.
3. Han JS, Lee TJ, Ryu K(2018). The promotion of health tourism products for domestic tourists. International Journal of Tourism Research, 20(2):137-46.
4. Suess C, Baloglu S, Busser JA(2018). Perceived impacts of medical tourism development on community wellbeing. Tourism Management, 69:232-45.
5. Goryushkina NE, Gaifutdinova T, Logvina E, Redkin A, Kudryavtsev V, Shol YN(2019). Basic principles of tourist services market segmentation. International Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 7(2):139-150.
6. Camilleri MA(2018). Market segmentation, targeting and positioning. In:Travel marketing, tourism economics and the airline product: 1st ed, Springer. Switzerland, pp. 69-83.
7. Dolnicar S (2022). Market segmentation for e-tourism. In:Handbook of e-tourism. Eds, Zheng Xiang, Matthias Fuchs, Ulrike Gretzel, and Wolfram Höpken. Springer. Switzerland, pp.1-15.
8. Venter P, Wright A, Dibb S(2015). Performing market segmentation: a performative perspective. Journal of Marketing Management, 31(1-2):62-83.
9. Zhou J, Zhai L, Pantelous AA(2020). Market segmentation using high-dimensional sparse consumers data. Expert Syst Appl, 145:113136.
10. Dolničar S(2004). Beyond “commonsense segmentation”: A systematics of segmentation approaches in tourism. J Travel Res, 42(3):244-50.
11. Han S, Ye Y, Fu X, Chen Z(2014). Category role aided market segmentation approach to convenience store chain category management. Decis Support Syst, 57:296-308.
12. Torkzadeh L, Jalilian H, Zolfagharian M, Torkzadeh H, Bakhshi M, Khodayari-Zarnaq R(2021). Market segmentation in the health tourism industry: a systematic review of approach and criteria. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 10.1080/19407963.2021.1988622
13. Chernev A(2014). Identifying target customers: segmentation and targeting analysis.In: Strategic marketing management. 8th ed. Cerebellum Press, USA. pp. 52-74
14. Konu H(2010). Identifying potential wellbeing tourism segments in Finland. Tourism Review, 65(2):41-51
15. Mueller H, Kaufmann EL(2001). Wellness tourism: Market analysis of a special health tourism segment and implications for the hotel industry. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 7(1):5-17.
16. Dimitrovski D, Todorović A(2015). Clustering wellness tourists in spa environment. Tour Manag Perspect, 16:259-65.
17. Junio MMV, Kim JH, Lee TJ(2017). Competitiveness attributes of a medical tourism destination: The case of South Korea with importance-performance analysis. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 34(4):444-60.
18. Schmidt MJ, Hollensen S(2006). Cluster analysis and segmentation of customers In:Marketing research: An international approach.1st ed. Pearson education, UK.pp. 327-375
19. Tuma MN, Decker R, Scholz SW(2011). A survey of the challenges and pifalls of cluster analysis application in market segmentation. International Journal of Market Research, 53(3):391-414.
20. Wongkit M, McKercher B(2013). Toward a typology of medical tourists: A case study of Thailand. Tour Manag, 38:4-12.
21. Jayakody A, Bryant J, Carey M, Hobden B, Dodd N, Sanson-Fisher R(2016). Effectiveness of interventions utilising telephone follow up in reducing hospital readmission within 30 days for individuals with chronic disease: a systematic review. BMC Health Serv Res, 16(1):403.
22. Rahman MK(2019). Medical tourism: tourists’ perceived services and satisfaction lessons from Malaysian hospitals. Tourism Review, 74(3):739-758.
23. Aydin G, Karamehmet B(2017). Factors affecting health tourism and international health-care facility choice. Int J Pharm Healthc Mark, 11(1):16-36.
24. Park PHP(2018). Destination Attribute and Tourist Destination Choice of Port Harcourt Pleasure Park and Obudu Mountain Resort. International Journal of Advanced Studies in Ecology, Development and Sustainability, 5(1):161-181.
25. Loi LTI, So ASI, Lo IS, Fong LHN(2017). Does the quality of tourist shuttles influence revisit intention through destination image and satisfaction? The case of Macao. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 32:115-23.
26. Lee C-W, Li C(2019). The process of constructing a health tourism destination index. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 16(22):4579.
27. Palumbo R, Annarumma C, Manna R, Musella M, Adinolfi P (2021). Improving quality by involving patient. The role of health literacy in influencing patients’ behaviors. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 14: 144-152
28. Sadeh E, Garkaz M(2019). Interpretive structural modeling of quality factors in both medical and hospitality services in the medical tourism industry. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 36(2):253-67.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 53 No 4 (2024) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v53i4.15570 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Medical tourism Health tourism Market segmentation Marketing Clustering | ||
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
How to Cite
1.
Torkzadeh L, Jalilian H, Rahmani H, Bakhshi M, Hashemzadeh S, Faryabi M, Khodayari-Zarnaq R. Value-Based Market Segmentation of West Asian Medical Tourism Market: A Case of Iran. Iran J Public Health. 2024;53(4):924-933.
