The Impact of Brand Image, Ethical Behavior and Service Quality on Patient Loyalty Considering the Mediating Role of Patient Satisfaction (Case Study: Tehran Ophthalmology Private Centers)

Nowadays, the quality of services in medical centers plays a significant role in patient satisfaction. The main mission of medical centers is to provide high quality medical services, patient satisfaction, and patient loyalty. On the other hand, the performance of healthcare professionals should have an ethical and human nature and should pay special attention to ethical behaviors. As a result, positive mental association, arising from the quality of medical services, can promote brand equity and lead to the brand superiority of one medical center comparing to the others. The present study examined the effect of brand image, ethical behavior, and service quality on patient loyalty with the mediating variable of satisfaction. This study was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive analytical in terms of survey. The statistical population of this study included private ophthalmology centers in Tehran, such as specialty and subspecialty ophthalmology centers. The sample size in this study included 339 people. In addition, this study used SPSS software for data analysis and used structural equation modeling in AMOS software for testing the research hypotheses and determining the effect of independent variables on the dependent variable with the mediating variable. The findings of this study indicated that the two variables of brand image and service quality directly affect patient satisfaction but indirectly effect on patient loyalty with satisfaction as mediator variable. Furthermore, satisfaction affects patient loyalty while ethical behavior has no direct or indirect effect on patient satisfaction and patient loyalty.