The Influence of Digital Marketing and Service Quality on Patient Satisfaction: Brand Experience as a Mediating Variable
Keywords:
Brand Experience, Digital Marketing, Digital Transformation, Healthcare Marketing, Indonesia, Patient Experience, Patient Satisfaction, Public Hospitals, Service Quality, SERVQUALAbstract
The digital transformation of healthcare has fundamentally changed the way hospitals interact with patients, yet the relationship between digital marketing, service quality, brand experience, and patient satisfaction remains underexplored, particularly in public hospitals. This study investigates this relationship at RSUD dr. Mohamad Soewandhie Surabaya, a pioneering public hospital that has implemented digital initiatives since 2015. Using quantitative explanatory research with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), data were collected from 100 patients who had interacted with the hospital's digital platforms. The results showed that digital marketing significantly influenced brand experience (path coefficient = 0.947, p < 0.05) and directly influenced patient satisfaction (0.520, p < 0.05). Brand experience also significantly influenced patient satisfaction (0.379, p < 0.05) and partially mediated the relationship between digital marketing and satisfaction (indirect effect = 0.359, p < 0.05). Surprisingly, traditional service quality dimensions showed no significant direct or indirect influence on brand experience or patient satisfaction, challenging the long-established SERVQUAL paradigm. These findings suggest a fundamental shift in patient expectations toward digital convenience and accessibility, requiring healthcare providers to prioritize digital platform development while maintaining service quality as a hygiene factor. This study contributes to healthcare marketing theory by demonstrating the dominance of digital factors in shaping patient experience and satisfaction in the contemporary healthcare environment.
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