The satisfied consumer: service return behavior in the hospital obstetrics market.
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Analysis of Variance↗
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Consumerism in health care. Prevalence and predictors.
Current efforts to contain health care costs include a variety of strategies aimed at the users of health services. These approaches attempt to encourage users to be more cost-conscious and to shop for lower-cost services and more efficient health care plans. The primary method for achieving this is by increasing the consumer's exposure to the cost of health insurance and the cost of care. The assumption is that approaches that increase cost-sensitivity will stimulate greater consumerism among the users of care. This paper presents findings from a study that investigates the extent to which members of insured populations have a consumer approach to health care, identifies factors related to consumer behaviors and attributes, and examines the degree to which consumer cost-sensitivity is associated with other consumer-oriented behaviors. The data used are derived from face-to-face interviews. Only a minority of the respondents engage in the examined consumer behaviors. Both social demographic and attitudinal factors affect the likelihood of engaging in consumer behaviors. Being cost-sensitive appears to be only a minor stimulant to other consumer attributes. Policy implications are discussed.
Adult↗
Assertiveness and aggressiveness as potential moderators of consumers' verbal behavior following a failure of service.
49 men and 37 women participated in a study of the relationships among assertiveness, aggressiveness, and verbal intentions. Findings suggest that as a person's social network extends out from family to others. Nonassertive and Aggressive persons are less likely to discuss a problem with service and their response. However, more assertive consumers are significantly more likely to discuss these same circumstances with acquaintances and others. The nature of intended verbal communications was positive for Assertive relative to Nonassertive consumers. Sex of the subject did not appear to be of importance.
Adult↗
Dialogue: should any willing provider laws become a mandate for behavioral healthcare? Consumer and payors require customization and choice of network products.
To reiterate, if managed behavioral health plans or delivery systems wish to offer products that include AWP, they should be able to do so. This is typical of indemnity and POS products. Conversely, if they wish to offer products with selective networks, they should be able to exercise this option also. If the principle of market choice in selection of a product can be allowed to operate, it will tell us what products are valued. The available evidence so far indicates that consumers (patients) are as satisfied or more satisfied with their treatment when it is delivered in a selective network (e.g., HMO) as when they are in an AWP network (e.g., fee for service). There is a great deal of change (and opportunity) for providers in managed behavioral healthcare today, not unlike transitions in other professions which have undergone significant changes (e.g., manufacturing, crafts, farming). The stresses that are creating greater efficiency, accountability and innovation in mental health and substance abuse service delivery are also causing provider anxiety and altered practice styles and lifestyles. While managed behavioral health plans and delivery systems need to be sensitive to these stresses within the provider community, it is not the responsibility of any organization to assure a group of workers that they will always be paid for doing what they did in the past, in the way they did it in the past. Given the pace of our growing knowledge about behavioral healthcare, that would be an irresponsible objective.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Community Participation↗
Development of a consumer survey for behavioral health services.
A consumer survey was designed to assess the quality of mental health and substance abuse services and evaluate insurance plans that provide such services. This paper describes the development of the Consumer Assessment of Behavioral Health Services instrument, which began with a review of existing consumer satisfaction surveys and input from several groups working toward development of nationally standardized satisfaction instruments. Consumer focus groups were used to ensure that all the important domains of quality were included, and group members were interviewed to ensure that all items on the instrument were understandable. Results of a pilot test conducted with 160 consumers, 82 enrolled in Medicaid plans and 78 in commercial plans, suggested that the survey was able to distinguish between the two groups in terms of evaluations of their care and insurance plans. Future efforts will focus on further testing of larger, more diverse samples and on developing scoring and reporting formats for the survey that will be useful to consumers and purchasers in choosing behavioral health services and plans.
Consumer Behavior↗
Provider tests no-premium Medicare POS, risk adjustment, rewards for healthy behavior.
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Consumer Behavior↗
"Patterned interviewing"--predicting future job behavior.
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Consumer Behavior↗
Media and youth consumerism.
Studies into the impact of advertising typically focus on three kinds of effects: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. This article summarizes research into types of effect and discusses the literature on several other predictors of children's consumer behavior, including age gender, socioeconomic level, and parent-child communication. The article ends with some information about European regulation about advertising and some suggestions for future research into children's consumer behavior.
Advertising↗
The recommended food-buying principles of consumer educators: a behavioral science assessment of their feasibility for older consumers.
A content analysis recently identified twenty food-buying principles as the most commonly cited in consumer education textbooks of the 1980s. This study examines the behavior science literature in an effort to assess the ability of older consumers to practice these principles in American supermarkets. The study identifies three types of principles differing in the consumer behaviors they recommend as well as the nature and strength of the support they receive in the behavioral science literature. Implications of the study findings are drawn for gerontological research and educational practice.
Aged↗
[Consumer expectations for livestock farming and food safety].
Food safety optimization measures neglect the consumers' psychological requirements. To avoid guilt--delight-discords, problems of livestock farming are not registered in the first place. Food checks at the purchase are felt to be a matter of the consumer's own competence, using his five senses and primarily seen as a tasting test. Market mechanisms supply additional safety in the background. Consumer behavior in acute crises must be seen from the point of protective magie. Governmental pre-tests raise doubts on the consumer's shopping competence, they are felt to be insulting and unreliable. Certificates and quality seals only stand a chance as complimentary service to the consumer's own competence.
Animal Husbandry↗
[Requirements for security for widows according to their needs. Remarks on the discussion on dependents' allowance in West Germany].
The article is concerned with the present regulations of the old-age-pension for widows. At first the author discusses the legislator's assumptions of different financial needs between widows and widowers. Thereby he considers the last decision of the West German Bundesverfassungsgericht on the rate of the old-age-pension for widows (June 1978). New researches on the consumption of aged people give reason to criticise the present financial regulation, which places 60% of the deceased husband's old-age-pension at the widow's disposal. This is confirmed by new consumer data of the West German Statistisches Bundesamt as well as by the results of an empirical research study on the consumer behavior of aged people, carried out by the Institut für Sozialforschung und Gesellschaftspolitik, Cologne. The main interest is to show the consequences of different financial regulations for widows and widowers on their consumer behavior. In this context the article deals especially with the attitudes of aged people towards the differences in the survivor's pension and with the process of economical adaption after the death of the husband.
Age Factors↗
[Partnership and sex behavior of consumers of illegal drugs: a survey of 654 persons in the "open" drug scene in Zurich].
In the spring of 1991, a survey was carried out in the "open" drug scene in Zürich's Platzspitz area with the objective of studying drug users' behaviour with regard to relationships and sexuality, a random sample of 654 users (both male and female) of illegal drugs being interviewed and the data drawn from these interviews being compared with corresponding data on average young adults aged 17 to 30. The latter data have been continuously collected since 1986 to evaluate Switzerland's strategy to prevent AIDS. About fifty per cent of drug users are in steady relationships, which is a smaller proportion than among average young adults. On the other hand, occasional sexual contacts (whether or not a steady relationship exists) are three times as frequent among drug users. The use of condoms is slightly more frequent here than among the average population, but is not as yet-and especially among those who are HIV-positive-consistent enough by any means. The influence of drug abuse on sexuality is usually felt to be negative (decline in libidinal energy, impotence), and often brings about a decrease in sexual contacts. This is equally true of both opiates and stimulants (cocaine, amphetamine). Promiscuous behaviour is rare as such and does not occur with any greater frequency than among the average population. However, a large proportion of drug users is at some stage exposed to prostitution. In summary, one can say that the preventive strategy continues to be deficient where the sexual activities of drug users are concerned. A greater effort should be made, in this context, to target the following groups: persons already frequenting advice centers, persons who are HIV-positive, and male prostitutes.
Adolescent↗
Health care consumption and consumer social class: a different look at the patient.
Both the need and potential for market segmentation in the health care industry have grown substantially. Social class, a consumer behavior construct applied widely in other marketing contexts, may be useful as a basis for health care segmentation. Using a random sample of 997 households in the Pacific Northwest, the author investigates health care attitudes and behaviors across social class groups. Social class is found to be related positively and significantly to several aspects of health care, including personal health, interest, expenditures, satisfaction, and switching behavior.
Attitude to Health↗
More on the determinants of the fertility transition.
The economic approach to fertility is an application of the economics theory of consumer behavior. It is assumed that consumers of children are utility-maximizers with stable preferences over time. Thus, changes in fertility are related to changes in household income and the "price" of children. One concern in this approach is that demographic changes are a product of changes in tastes rather than exogenous changes in economic factors such as the earning ability of women. In this paper, the effect of economic variables on the demand for children in the United States in 1950, 1960, 1970, and 1980 is examined. Support is provided for the hypothesis that the earning ability of women is an important determinant of fertility.
Adult↗
Averaging expectancies and perceptual experiences in the assessment of quality.
This study examines whether people integrate expectancy information with perceptual experiences when evaluating the quality of consumer products. In particular, we investigate the following three questions: (1) Are expectancy effects observed in the evaluation of consumer products? (2) Can these effects be viewed in cognitive processing terms? (3) Can a mathematical model based on the averaging of attribute information describe the effects? Participants in two experiments blindly evaluated (with the product names removed) consumer products from six sensory modalities: vision (computer printer output), tactile (paper towels), olfaction (men's cologne), taste (corn chips), auditory (audio cassette tapes), and tactile/medicinal (hand lotion). Participants in both experiments were asked to: (1) rate the overall quality of the product given arbitrary quality labels (High Quality, Medium Quality, or Low Quality); (2) rate the overall quality of the product without the labels, and (3) estimate the scale values for the quality labels alone. Group results revealed main effects of the quality labels in all product categories. The pattern of results could be described by an averaging model based on Information Integration Theory. These results have implications for placebo effects in consumer behavior and decision making.
Attitude↗
The physical attractiveness stereotype in a consumer-related situation.
A mixed factorial design was used to examine the physical attractiveness stereotype in the context of consumer behavior, with physical attractiveness and clothing elegance as between-subjects variables and type of consumer product as a within-subject variable. Female graduate students in India were shown photographs of a young female model and were asked to indicate the quality of four consumer products that the model was likely to choose. Product quality was rated higher for the attractive model than for the plain (nonattractive) model, but the difference was significant only for beauty products. Product quality was rated higher for the elegantly dressed model than for the model who was not elegantly dressed, irrespective of product type.
Adult↗
Time preference, psychographics, and smoking behavior.
Following the lead of recent independent economic and consumer behavior theories in health behavior, the author investigates the link between three sets of variables and smoking status and intensity. Data from a nationwide survey show that consumer psychographic dimensions provide more meaningful and valid predictors of smoking intensity than consumer time preference and demographic characteristics. The time preference measures show that smoking decisions also involve economic-like choices. The three sets of predictive variables were able to discriminate smoking status (smokers, nonsmokers, and ex-smokers). Implications for public policy makers are discussed.
Evaluation Studies as Topic↗
Hospital tiers in health insurance: balancing consumer choice with financial incentives.
Variations in efficiency and market power are generating wide variations in the prices charged by hospitals to health insurance plans. Insurers are developing new network structures that expose the consumer to some of the cost differences, to encourage but not mandate differential use of the more economical facilities. The three leading designs include hospital "tiers" within a single broad network, multiple-network products, and the replacement of copayments by coinsurance in HMO as well as PPO products. This paper describes the new network designs and evaluates the challenges they face in influencing consumers' behavior, incorporating information on clinical quality, and supporting medical education and uncompensated care.
Consumer Behavior↗