Hospital Brand Image and Determinants in Medical Tourism: The Case of Samsun

The aim of this study is to reveal the effects of word-of-mouth marketing, hospital social media accounts, user social media accounts, hospital advertisements and price policy on hospital brand image from the perspective of medical tourists visiting Türkiye. Data were gathered using English, Arabic, and Turkish questionnaires from 1 July 2023 to 31 December 2023. There is a strong and positive relationship between hospital brand image, word-of-mouth communication (WOM), hospital social media use, social media accounts of followers, hospital advertisements (r>0.500, p<0.01). Hospital brand image is influenced by word-of-mouth communication (WOM), hospital social media use, social media accounts of followers, hospital advertisements and price perception (p<0.05). As a result of the study, it was determined that social media use and marketing activities were the most important predictors in the formation of hospital brand image.