Patient proactivity: behaviors, attitudes, and its relationship with satisfaction with the American health care delivery system.

A sample of 1,031 U.S. adult residents provided information regarding actions that fall within the realm of patient proactivity, that is to say efforts that are overtly designed to maintain or regain one's health. An assessment of consumers revealed that they engage in, or at least support, behaviors that would be characterized as proactive. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship between some elements of patient proactivity and the level of satisfaction with the American health care system. The relationships are modest, but they offer managerial insight that will benefit those responsible for both delivering and marketing health care.

Understanding the role consumer involvement plays in the effectiveness of hospital advertising.

Both intensified competition and greater consumer participation in the choice process for healthcare has increased the importance of advertising for health care providers and seriously challenged many of the preconceptions regarding advertising. This study investigates the effectiveness of advertising under conditions of high and low involvement using the Elaboration Likelihood Model to develop hypotheses that are tested in a 2 x 2 x 2 experimental design. The study findings provide insights into the influence of message content and message source on consumers categorized as high or low involvement. It was found that consumers classified as high-involvement are more influenced by a core service-relevant message than those consumers classified as low-involvement. Moreover, a non-physician spokesperson was found to have as much or more influence as a physician spokesperson regardless of the consumers' involvement level.