The role of gender as a moderator: the impact of social media marketing, service quality and brand image on patient loyalty with patient satisfaction as the mediator

This study aims to examine the influence of social media marketing, service quality, and brand image on patient satisfaction and loyalty, and to analyze the moderating role of gender in the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. Data were collected from outpatients who had previously received healthcare services at the Featured Clinic. A purposive sampling technique was used, with the criterion being that respondents had visited the clinic at least once. The sample size was determined based on the recommendations of Hair et al., who suggest a minimum of 5–10 respondents per indicator for Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis. Thus, a total of 200 valid responses were analyzed using SEM. The results show that social media marketing, service quality, and brand image have a significant positive influence on patient satisfaction. Social media marketing, service quality, and satisfaction were also found to have a significant influence on patient loyalty. However, brand image did not have a direct influence on patient loyalty. Satisfaction mediated the relationship between social media marketing and patient loyalty, but did not mediate the influence of service quality and brand image on loyalty. Furthermore, gender did not significantly moderate the relationship between satisfaction and patient loyalty.