Hospital brand image and trust leading towards patient satisfaction: medical tourists’ behavioural intention in Malaysia

In Malaysia, hospital branding is critical to recruiting medical tourists. Reputation, service quality, and word-of-mouth influence hospital branding. Thus, hospitals and the healthcare tourism sector must understand these elements to gain a competitive edge in the global market. This study investigated the effect of hospital advertising factors on healthcare tourists’ behavioural intentions (BI) in Malaysia, with emphasis on clarifying the nature of hospital brand image and hospital brand trust. Additionally, the study assessed how perceived standards and satisfaction stimulate favourable BI among healthcare tourists. This study used the quantitative research-based deductive approach, where hospitals in Malaysia were the target sector. The results demonstrated that accessibility, cost, and a good web presence influenced hospital marketing for medical tourism. Furthermore, the characteristics of safety and security and effective advertising enhance trust. Moreover, patient satisfaction is critical to reduce the divide between service standards and BI, which emphasises the necessity of prioritising patients in medical facilities. Nevertheless, the findings were time-sensitive and not adjusted for healthcare tourism sector alterations or customer habit variations over time.