The Impact of Health Services versus General Services and Goods on Consumers’ Assessment of Perceived Risk in the UK

Abstract

It is acknowledged (Weinstein & Nicholich, 1993) that with the development of services marketing specifically related to health services comes a need to understand the aspects of consumer risk behavior. This paper examines differences in perceived risk between health services, general services and goods and will seek to substantiate and develop the work reported by Murray and Schlacter, (1990), utilizing a qualitative methodology with repeated measures and nested factors. The conclusions support the hypotheses that there are significant differences in perceptions of physical, convenience and social risks when purchasing health services.