Can hospitableness promote patients’ eWOM behaviour? The role of perceived overall fairness, treatment effectiveness and disease severity

Abstract

Hospitableness within healthcare settings is increasingly recognized in the literature. However, despite the significance of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) behaviour, our understanding of how hospitableness influences patient perceptions and behaviours remains limited. This study utilizes fairness heuristic theory as a theoretical framework to assess how hospitableness affects patients' eWOM behaviour and explores the mediating role of perceived overall fairness (POF) and the moderating roles of treatment effectiveness and disease severity. Using data collected from 387 patients, the results reveal that hospitableness significantly enhances patients' eWOM behaviour. POF mediated the relationship between hospitableness and patients' eWOM behaviour. Furthermore, treatment effectiveness and disease severity negatively moderate the influence of hospitableness on POF. This study has both theoretical and practical implications for healthcare service management.