TITLE:
The Effect of Hospitals’ Social Media Marketing on Patients’ Health Perception: Research in Istanbul Province
AUTHORS:
Claire Laetitia Fernende Nleng Aloma, Murat Basal
KEYWORDS:
Hospital, Social Media, Marketing, Patient, Health Perception
JOURNAL NAME:
Sociology Mind,
Vol.14 No.2,
March
28,
2024
ABSTRACT: Nowadays,
the market in this sector encompasses almost every kind of healthcare service,
such as health systems, hospitals, providers with multiple locations,
individual practices, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers,
health insurance plans, consumer brands, and more. Hospitals provide health
services and care to sick or injured individuals through the expertise of
doctors and nurses. Social media refers to interactive technologies that enable
individuals to create, share, and express information, ideas, interests, and
various forms of expression through virtual communities and networks; these
communities and networks are established based on the prevalent internet
connectivity that has become widespread in the digital era. The lifeblood of
social media is user-generated content, which includes text posts or comments,
digital photos or videos, and data generated through online interactions.
Social media can help foster an individual’s sense of connection to real or
online communities and can be an effective communication tool. Having
discovered the impact of this channel on consumers, business owners have
included this area in their marketing strategies. It becomes critical to define
and measure patients’ perceptions of healthcare quality and to better
understand what drives these perceptions. Today, there is a request to compile
a summary of patients’ viewpoints on health plans, hospitals, doctors, and
overall health services. This study aims to investigate the impact of social
media activities employed by hospitals in promoting their health services on
patients’ perception, specifically referring to the physical stimulation
experienced by patients through their sensory organs. The questionnaire form
created in this direction was then used as Google Form to obtain data. We
acquired data regarding the opinions of social media users who receive hospital
services in Istanbul. The 397 collected data were analyzed using SPSS, one of
the statistical programs. The acceptance of our hypotheses designed according
to the model was determined as a result of the Anova and t test. In order to
achieve positive outcomes for consumers using social media, hospital services
should be conducted correctly and adhered to accordingly, as a consequence of
this outcome. In future studies, it is recommended that the study be applied
throughout Türkiye.