Role of Social media marketing in Medical Tourism Business in India

Question: Discuss about the Role of Social media marketing in Medical Tourism Business in India. Answer: Research Title The researcher in the present study would emphasize upon analyzing the role of social medical tourism and thus the title of the study is as follows: Role of Social media marketing in Medical Tourism Business in India Case Study of Chennai, A Hub of Medical Tourism. Research Aim and Objectives The study would aim at analyzing the scope of medical tourism in India and role of media marketing in medical tourism in India especially in the context of Chennai which has emerged as a hub of medical tourism in India. Thus the entire study would be observed to be resolving around the following specific objectives: To analyze the role of social media marketing on medical tourism in India in context to Chennai. To investigate the impact of social media on medical tourism industry in context to Chennai. To analyze the factors of the perceived value of customers through the use of social media for medical tourism destination. To provide recommendations regarding the improvements in social media marketing in case of medical tourism in India. Research Background There are various reasons why people travel and they might be in search for new experiences, pleasure, out of curiosity, education, medical and other reasons. So these motivations on the part of the individuals has led to emergence of the tourism sector as one of the fastest growing sectors and it is also the fact that the industry has experienced a rapid and steady growth in the past and is expected to grow at a same rate in the future years. As per, UNWTO (2015), tourism is looked upon as of the major drivers for socio-economic progress and it has made significant contributions not only in the growth of the national economy but also in the growth of the global economy (Bu, 2015). The contribution of the tourism sector in the year 2014 was approximately above 7.5 trillion US dollars and thus it is considered at present as the most important industry in both the national and the global economy. Taking into consideration the above aspects, the study would strive towards maintaining its focus towards medical tourism in India and in this context it has been observed that, with people coming from across the nations in India, Chennai has emerged as a hub of medical tourism. It has been observed that Chennai attracts around 40% medical tourists of the countrys and every year, the city is visited by more than six lakh tourists as per the studies conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) (thehindu, 2012). The arrival of the visitors for medical purposes to the country has also amplified by around 23% and this fact has been put forward by the CII officials and thus it has made Chennai as one of the favorite destination. The city also receives around 200 foreign patients on a daily basis and this is mainly because of the quality of healthcare services that is being rendered to the service users. Moreover the state also tends to produce doctors in the numbers and param edics in India and medical tourists from different regions like the South and Southeast Asia, Middle-east, and Africa visit Tamil Nadu for medical purposes and treatment every year. Moreover, the government of India under the 2023 vision programme is also planning to build a medicity with public-private partnership and this would facilitate in the expansion of the scope of the medical tourism in Chennai (The Times of India, 2015). Moreover, with the advancements in technology and emergence of social media sites as a platform for enhanced communication and social networking, the aspect of social medias in Indias medical tourism would be analyzed and emphasized by the researcher in the present study and its impact on the sector. Hypothesis Null Hypothesis (H0): The medical tourism business in India is impacted positively by the social media marketing. Alternative Hypothesis (H1): The social media marketing has no impact on the medical tourism business in India. Literature Review With advancements in technology and emergence of internet, social media is more frequently used by the individuals for communication rather than physical participation. The most popular social media sites include Twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram. Moreover, it is also noteworthy that communication in virtual world is rapid and news and messages tend to travel at a faster rate than any other form of communication over internet (Amaro, Duarte and Henriques, 2016). So it becomes no longer necessary for the individuals to wait for physical interaction in order to achieve an insight on actual situation of the destination the individuals are planning to visit for their medical purpose or treatment. Moreover social media sites also provide opportunity for electronic word of mouth references and have an easy access to the visual impact of the destination that acts as a major contributor in individuals decision making process to choose the medical tourist destination (Medical Tourism, 2014). Moreover the studies conducted by Dijkmans et al., (2015) revealed the fact that the agencies associated with medical tourism together with departments of the international patient, across the globe mainly depend upon the business that receive from their websites, the social media and the activities associated to internet. Again he also pointed out that in the recent times, on the basis of the information that collect and get on the products and services through internet; the medical tourists are making informed decisions. Social media in this context tends to play a major role since it facilitates in promoting the medical tourism business and it is also the fact that the number of social media and internet users has experienced huge surge and so this has encouraged the medical tourism companies to rely on these social networking platform to enhance their business prospects. These companies tend to create profiles on the social media sites and advertise their business through these platforms by attracting more and more medical tourists through promoting the discounts and offers in their profiles. Dwivedi et al., (2011) and put forward that, social media platforms provides an opportunity to the medical tourism businesses to provide to aide range of target audience. For example, in India medical tourism provider can attract the customers from different countries like UK and UK and this possible by advertising the services, offers and facilities and other unique propositions over the social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. On the other hand the individuals at present are also more social media welcoming and they strive to provide their individual opinions and experiences regarding the companies, preferred by them or about the companies the services which they have availed. So this proves to be beneficial for the other social medial users who are potential medical tourists to read these reviews and comments and shared information without having to directly contact the provider or meeting with provider physically (Zeng, 2013). So these social media content prove to be beneficial for the other individual medical tourists and are also observed to be more influential in the context of the decision making. So it can be said that a positive word over social media about the medical agency proves to be a great business opportunity for the medical tourism business. Research Design and Methodology Research Approach The researcher in order to conduct the study in an efficient could adopt either of the two research approaches that include the inductive and the deductive research approach. However in the present study the deductive approach would be mainly emphasized by the researcher because it would promote in testing the hypothesis that has been set by the researcher on the basis of the available theories (VanderStoep and Johnson, 2009). Moreover the deductive approach would also facilitate the researcher to move from particular information to general information and collect the data for the test of the hypothesis. In order to conduct the research, 10 medical tourists and 4 managers from medical tourism industry will be interviewed. Research Philosophy The researcher in order to conduct the study in an efficient manner could adopt either a positivism or realism or interpretivism philosophy (VanderStoep and Johnson, 2009). However in the present study the researcher would focus upon collecting both the qualitative and quantitative data and so, it can be said that since the study would involve quantitative data, the positivism philosophy would be beneficial and since qualitative data would be involved, realism philosophy would be beneficial. Research Design The researcher for the present study could adopt either explanatory or exploratory or descriptive research design (Morgan, 2007). However for the present study, the descriptive research design would be beneficial since it would facilitate in analyzing the undertaken topic in a detailed manner and also analyze the sight in the paradigm from traditional ways of marketing and promotion to the modern ways of marketing and promotion. Data Analysis In the present study, the researcher would collect both the primary and the secondary data. The secondary data would be collected from both online and offline sources (Harrison and Reilly, 2011). The online sources would include the peer reviewed articles and journals and early researches published online and the offline sources would include the academic sources like library, business magazines and newspapers. By conducting interview with the help of 4 managers of medical tourism agencies in Chennai primary data would be collected and conducting survey with 10 medical tourists who have visited the hospital for treatment. Moreover, the qualitative data i.e. the response from the interview would be analyzed in a subjective manner and with the help of statistical tools the quantitative data i.e. the response of the medical tourists from the questionnaire survey would be analyzed and techniques for example graphs, charts, tables and use of SPSS software (Cooper and Schindler, 2010). Sampling The managers for the interview would be selected through non-probabilistic sampling since their involvement would depend upon their busy schedule and the medical tourists for survey would be selected through probabilistic sampling since it would provide equal opportunity of participation to all (Crowther and Lancaster, 2012). Managers: 4 Medical tourists: 10 Contribution and Conclusion The study would prove to be beneficial for the medical tourism agencies to gain an understanding of the perception and views of the medical tourists and thus market and promote accordingly and enhance their social media activities. However, with the help of the study it is expected to highlight upon social media creates a positive impact on the medical tourism business in India. References Amaro, S., Duarte, P. and Henriques, C. (2016). Travelers use of social media: A clustering approach. Annals of Tourism Research, 59, pp.1-15. Bu, N. (2015). The Ninth UNWTO/PATA Forum on Tourism Trends and Outlook. Anatolia, pp.1-2. Cooper, D. and Schindler, P. S. (2010) Business Research Methods, 11th ed. London: McGra-Hill. Crowther, D. and Lancaster, G. (2012). Research Methods, 2nd ed. London: Routledge. Dijkmans, C., Kerkhof, P. and Beukeboom, C. (2015). A stage to engage: Social media use and corporate reputation. Tourism Management, 47, pp.58-67. Dwivedi, M., Yadav, A. and Venkatesh, U. (2011). Use of Social Media by National Tourism Organizations: A Preliminary Analysis. Information Technology Tourism, 13(2), pp.93-103. Harrison, R. L. and Reilly, T. M. (2011). 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