Dental marketing : a practice-based study of private dental care providers in the UK
Khamoushi, Kamran (2021)
Khamoushi, Kamran
2021
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021090817580
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021090817580
Tiivistelmä
For a dental practitioner, knowledge about effective marketing is almost as crucial as having decent clinical competence in safeguarding a successful practice. However, many dentists "equate marketing with advertising" due to the lack of knowledge regarding the healthcare marketing concept and consumer buying decision process for dental services. This study aims to describe the concept of healthcare marketing by collecting and presenting evidence and investigating what UK consumers (prospective patients) consider important when trying to find, evaluate, and finally choose a dentist. The purpose is to provide insightful knowledge to help dental care providers significantly improve their marketing efforts. Primary data were collected from 423 UK residents over the age of 18 between February and May 2021 using a structured online questionnaire and random sampling technique to reveal what UK consumers consider important towards finding, evaluating, and choosing a dentist. The data were analysed using the Statistical Program for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The data analysis results show that consumers often go through a lengthy and complicated buying decision process to find, evaluate, and finally choose a dentist. The most important factor that the participants considered important for choosing a dentist was the dentist's clarity in describing the treatment options, total cost, and processes (98.5%, n=417), followed by the dentist competence (97.4%, n=412). The study also revealed that a low number of participants use social media to find a dentist (5.5%, n=23 for Instagram), indicating that social media advertising is an ineffective marketing tactic for promoting dental services. This study concludes that all the marketing efforts, including advertising costs, may be wasted if the dentist fails to provide the prospective patient with a clear and convincing explanation regarding the treatment options, total cost and processes involved during the initial consultation.