Abstract
This study aims to find out how Chinese hospitals have used online videos as marketing and patient education tools. The findings from this study can help Chinese hospital administrators better understand how to best take advantage of the up-to-date online video delivery technology to conduct contemporary marketing and efficiently help their patients. Based on a systematic probability sample of 2,385 Chinese hospitals, the authors conducted a content analysis of Chinese hospital Web sites in early 2013. The study found that 42 % of Chinese hospitals had a Web site, only 21.8 % of these Web sites contained video(s), and 44.3 % of the these video Web sites carried only one video. The videos were mainly used to provide patient education (27.7 %) and to promote a hospital (23.1 %). Overall, private hospitals used more videos than state-owned hospitals especially for advertising and promotion, but ranking did not exert much influence. The study concludes that Chinese hospitals need to learn how to turn videos into an integral part of their marketing strategy so as to create both conceptually and technologically user-centric Web sites to serve themselves and, more importantly, to serve their patients.
This paper was prepared for the Academy of Marketing Science 2014 conference in Indianapolis
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
San Jia refers to a category in a hospital ranking system in China. This category of hospitals is supposed to be the highest rank.
- 2.
See Country Meters – China at http://countrymeters.info/en/China/
- 3.
The answer to this question will be assimilated into the answers for the above three questions in the Findings section.
- 4.
See the site at http://yyk.qqyy.com
- 5.
In China, San Jia hospitals are the highest-ranked hospitals, and “other hospitals,” the lowest rank, refer to those that are not ranked. In both extreme ranks, there are state-owned hospitals and private hospitals though San Jia hospitals are dominantly state-owned hospitals (159 state-owned vs. 51 private) and “other hospitals” contain dominantly private hospitals (344 private vs. 119 state-owned).
- 6.
Almost all patient stories are for promoting the hospital corporate identity in nature. Since there were many such videos, they are singled out.
References
Akamai (2013) The state of the Internet, 4th quarter, 2012 report. Retrieved from http://www.akamai.com/stateoftheinternet/
Anderson S (2013) HTML5: the future of online video. Retrieved from http://www.html5report.com/topics/html5/articles/349723-html5-future-online-video.htm
Cao R, Wang J (2012) An analysis of the service functions for patients on some of the large hospitals’ Web sites in China and in other countries. ACTA Universitatis Medicinals Nanjing 49(2):107–110 (In Chinese)
Chen Z, Pan X (2011) Implementing marketing on our hospital Web site. Mod Hosp 11(9):137–138 (In Chinese)
ChinaNews.com (2013) The number of Chinese netizens has reached 564 million, with 420 million cell phone online users. Retrieved from http://finance.chinanews.com/it/2013/01-15/4489875.shtml
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2013) 2013 Annual report on the development of new media. Retrieved from http://www.china.com.cn/news/2013-06/25/content_29220081.htm
Coyle JR, Thorson E (2001) The effects of progressive levels of interactivity and vividness in Web marketing sites. J Advert 30:65–77
Dillingham M (2008a) Good health content means video, just ask the people. Retrieved from http://adamcontent.com/good-health-content-means-video-just-ask-the-people/2008/04/06/
Dillingham M (2008b) Health content is video. Retrieved from http://adamcontent.com/health-content-is-video/2008/04/11/
Dolan PL (2010) Online videos of a practice can make business go viral. Retrieved from http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/09/20/bica0920.htm
Emmons S (2001) Freedom of speech in China: a possibility or a prohibition? Int Comp Law Rev 23(2):249–295
Fox D (2013) The importance of having a website. Retrieved from http://www.thewonderforest.com/2013/07/the-importance-of-having-website.html
Greene J (2008) Hospital post videos on Web. Crain’s Detroit Bus 24:11
Huang E (2009a) Diffusion of videos on hospital Web sites. Int J Pharm Healthc Mark 3(4):347–362
Huang E (2009b) Six cases of e-health videos on hospital Web sites. e-Serv J 6(3):56–71
Huang E, Bolchini D, Jones J (2011) Users’ consumption of healthcare videos on hospital Web sites. Int J Pharm Healthc Mark 5(1):43–53
Huang E, Chang CA, Khurana P (2012) Users’ preferred interactive e-health tools on U.S. hospital Web sites. Int J Pharm Healthc Mark 6(3):215–229
Lee D (2006) Lights, camera, surgery. The Indianapolis Star
Li Y, Zhang W (2009) A preliminary analysis of the Web sites of Level-1 tertiary hospitals in Beijing. Chin J Libr Inf Sci (China) 18(4):25–27
Merrill M (2010) ‘Most Wired Hospitals’ for 2010 named. Retrieved from http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/most-wired-hospitals-2010-named
Poulos J (2012) 6 reasons why your hospital needs video content. Retrieved from http://www.healthcarecommunication.com/Main/Articles/6_reasons_why_your_hospital_needs_video_content_8050.aspx
Qi S (2009) Mistakes and strategies in the construction of hospital Web sites. China Health Ind 6(9):69–73 (In Chinese)
Quinn RC (2008) The importance of having a website. Retrieved from http://www.ipwatchdog.com/business/the-importance-of-having-a-website/
Randeree E, Rao HR (2004) E-health and assurance: curing hospital websites. Int J Electron Healthc 1(1):33–46
Sharma SK, Xu H, Wickramasinghe N (2006) Electronic healthcare: issues and challenges. Int J Electron Healthc 2(1):50–65
Simms J (2005) 12 benefits of having a website. Retrieved from http://www.webworldindex.com/articles/12-Benefits-Of-Having-A-Website.html
Song JH, Zinkhan GM (2008) Determinants of perceived Web site interactivity. J Mark 72:99–113
Staff Reports (2008) VideoMD.com helps physicians to educate their patients. Ophthalmol Times 33(15):36
Wang F (2012) Synopsis of Chinese healthcare statistics: the percentage of prescription medicine cost declined. Retrieved from http://news.youth.cn/jk/201206/t20120611_2216612.htm
Wu X (2007) The construction and the function of a new-style hospital Web site. China Med Her 4(31):124–125 (In Chinese)
Yang G (2003) The internet and civil society in China: a preliminary assessment. J Contemp China 12(36):453–475
Youku.com (2013) Youku Tudou announces first quarter 2013 unaudited financial results. Retrieved from http://ir.youku.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=241246&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1820712&highlight=
Yu L (2009) An analysis of the Web site construction of Level-1 tertiary hospitals in Liaoning Province. Chin J Libr Inf Sci 18(2):30–32, 42. (In Chinese)
Yu W, Wang J, Zhou H, You J (2009) Investigation on health demands of health website visitors. J Nurs Sci 24(9):86–87 (In Chinese)
Yu F, Shen Y, Feng Y (2012) An analysis of the Web site construction of Level-1 tertiary hospitals in Shanghai. Chin Hosp 16(7):25–27 (In Chinese)
Zhao W, Wang Z, Jiang L (2006) On the construction of the online platform of customer service for hospitals. Med Equip Inf 21(10):56–57 (In Chinese)
Zhao Z, Li S, Xin X, Huang G (2011) The design and implementation of large hospitals’ Web sites. Comput Knowl Technol 7(4):785–787 (In Chinese)
Zheng Y, Wu G (2005) Information technology, public space, and collective action in China. Comp Polit Stud 38(5):507–536
Acknowledgment
All authors of this study made equal amount of contribution to the completion of this study.
The authors would like to thank Stephanie Huang, a student at the Law Center of the University of Houston, for her proofreading and valuable insight into the improvement of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Academy of Marketing Science
About this paper
Cite this paper
Huang, E., Liu, T., Wang, J. (2016). Videos for Marketing and Patient Education on Chinese Hospitals’ Web Sites. In: Obal, M., Krey, N., Bushardt, C. (eds) Let’s Get Engaged! Crossing the Threshold of Marketing’s Engagement Era. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11815-4_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11815-4_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-11814-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-11815-4
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)