Understanding the Impact of Psychological Distance on Medical Tourism Intention: The Health Belief Model Perspective

ABSTRACT

This study advances the Health Belief Model (HBM) within the context of medical tourism, exploring the intricate interplay between destination image, health beliefs, psychological distance, and the behavioral intentions of potential medical tourists. Our investigation reveals that destination image significantly influences perceived barriers and severity of risks, which, along with perceived susceptibility and benefits, strongly predicts tourists’ visitation intentions. Notably, the study revealed the dual roles of psychological distance: as a mediator between destination image and tourist preferences, and as a moderator affecting the impact of destination image on perceived risks. These findings underscore the importance of psychological factors in medical tourism decisions, suggesting that addressing psychological distance can enhance marketing strategies and improve patient outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Health belief model
• psychological distance
• medical tourism risk
• destination image
• intention to visit

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Social Science Post-fund of China (22FGLB103).