Financial Decision Making, Price, and Consumer Financial Well-being: A Multiple Methodology Inquiry of the Cognitions, Emotional Coping Responses, and Brand Measures in the Healthcare Service Industry

Abstract

Article 1: Financial bankruptcy, particularly those as a result of healthcare expenses, has become a pervasive issue in the United States. This article examines a basic premise for the research, that healthcare is not viewed, by consumers, consistently with other exchanges, leading to detachment and disengagement within the purchase experience (e.g., a lack of price searching and price comparison behaviors) and disadvantageous consequences for financial well-being. Subsequently, the studies test cognitive (i.e., knowledge structures) and emotional constructs (i.e., emotion regulation), with a between-subjects experimental methodology (three studies), that may further unfurl the decision process for healthcare consumers. Contributions to the marketing, psychology, and public policy literatures yield implications for marketers and public policy makers, which are discussed subsequently.;Article 2: A qualitative exploration of mindfulness and emotion regulation is proffered, in an effort to identify and understand the cognitive processes used by consumers during healthcare financial decision making. Two complementary methodologies (i.e., stimulated recall, think-aloud protocol) are used for data collection, and two rounds of coding analysis offer themes which inform the literatures of psychology and marketing. Data from 16 participants supports the proposal of a preliminary framework. Implications for marketers and public policy makers are discussed.;Article 3: Healthcare organizations (HCO) are a critical portion of the continually burgeoning healthcare industry. Recent revenue estimates for the industry now exceed {dollar}3 trillion in the U.S. (Phillips 2015). As such, HCOs, embedded within a unique service context, have turned their attention and resources towards managing, cultivating, and promoting their brands. Brand equity and brand image are examined for their impact on price (i.e., average charge price ), a dependent variable derived from data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and price premiums within the healthcare industry. Implications for the theory of services marketing and healthcare marketing are discussed, as well as for managers