Medical institutions are highly relationship-oriented, for they are essentially a service involving industry. Medical services are sort of continuous interactions with customers. The key to maintain long-term relationships with customers is to understand how to implement the elements of relationship marketing.
In the cosmetic medicine market, long-term relationships between the medical institutions and customers are mutual rather than bilateral in most cases. Understanding personality styles of customers in the cosmetic medicine market is quite important in the sense that it allows service providers to choose service strategies, determine customers’ behavioral trends and predict their future behaviors.
This study examined the mediating effects of particular five-factor personality model that were most frequently focused by other researches up to the present. Specifically, this study classified customers’ personal styles into five, which are extroversion, conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness and neuroticism. This paper also investigated how much those five styles of personality have mediating effects on relational benefits, customer satisfaction, trust and relational continuance intention, where participants of this study were divided into two groups depending on whether they were judged higher or lower than average in each personality style.
Data from the survey were processed through the descriptive analysis and the reliability analysis in accordance with SPSS 19.0 Program. The data were then processed through the confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis and the mediating effect analysis in accordance with AMOS 21.0. The findings of this study can be summarized as follows.
First, influential relationships between customers’ perceived relational benefits and customer satisfaction were analyzed to find that both confidence benefits and customization benefits have positive influences on customer satisfaction. But social benefits were found negatively affecting customer satisfaction. Therefore, the hypothesis that social benefits statistically and positively influences customer satisfaction was rejected. Also, the hypothesis that customer satisfaction is positively influenced by economic benefits was rejected.
Second, influential relationships between customers’perceived relational benefits and trust were investigated. As a result, the hypothesis that such sub-areas of the benefits as social, confidence and customization benefits have positive effects on trust was supported with significance. But economic benefits were found not significantly affecting customer satisfaction. This suggests that economic benefits provided by enterprises and service providers in the cosmetic medicine market where lots of perceived risks exist, for example, price discounts and free services are not necessary enough for customer satisfaction and trust.
Third, how much customer satisfaction and influence trust was investigated to support the hypothesis that the former has positive effect on the latter. Thus, customer satisfaction from relational benefits significantly affects trust. In other words, the higher customer satisfaction is, the higher trust is.
Fourth, influential relationship between customer satisfaction and relational continuance intention was investigated to find that the former positively influences the latter. Thus, the hypothesis that customer satisfaction has positive effect on relational continuance intention was supported.
Fifth, influencing relationship between trust and relational continuance intention was analyzed. The result of this analysis supported the hypothesis that trust has positive effect on relational continuance intention.
Sixth, the mediating effects of customers’ five-factor personality model on relational benefits, customer satisfaction, trust and relational continuance intention were analyzed to find that four of the five personality types, except openness, have significant influences on the variables.