Patient engagement and customer loyalty: the role of value co-creation in healthcare service delivery

Recent marketing frameworks suggest that patients are important resources for co-creating health value together with healthcare service providers. As a result, patient engagement in healthcare service delivery is being encouraged as it has been found to improve doctor-patient relationships and satisfaction, medical status as well as psychological well-being. This research thus aims to investigate the influence patient cognitive engagement dimensions (i.e., process enjoyment and self-efficacy) have on value co-creation behaviours. The study also tests the mediating effect of value co-creation on the relationships between process enjoyment and customer loyalty, as well, as self-efficacy and customer loyalty in the Ghanaian healthcare sector. Using a convenience sampling approach, survey data was drawn from 393 outpatients from Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and the Accra Regional (Ridge) Hospital in Accra, Ghana. Structural equation modelling using Smart PLS (v.3.2.3) was used to analyse the collected data. The findings revealed that value co-creation behaviours are influenced by both process enjoyment and self-efficacy. Additionally, the study revealed that value co-creation fully mediates the relationships between process enjoyment and customer loyalty as well as self-efficacy and customer loyalty. Implications of these findings are discussed.