Proceedings of Eurasia Business Research Conference
16 - 18 June 2014, Nippon Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey,ISBN: 978-1-922069-54-2
A Qualitative Investigation of the Four-Way Relationship
between Two Partners in a Medical Service Context
Berna Tarı Kasnakoğlu and İrem Öztürk
Abstract
The recent recognition of a dyadic interaction between the consumer and the service
provider (Solomon et al. 1985) implies a two-way, co-creative process for mutual
benefit (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2000). Realizing that role expectations may not
occur in a symmetrical way, several researchers have started to investigate
unbalanced relationship situations (e.g. Hennig-Thurau et al., 2006; Eriksson and
Söderberg, 2010). This study attempts to understand the role expectations of both
the provider and the consumer, and contribute to current knowledge by bringing out
the four-way dynamics of a service relationship. This question requires an
exploratory and qualitative analysis. The context of medical services is chosen
because of its complex nature and a high intensity of role expectations. 21 physicians
and 24 patients are interviewed and results are analyzed through open and axial
coding procedures. This analysis is graphically illustrated in two figures showing role
expectations of the physician and the patient, as perceived by both partners, hence
a four-way relationship.
Results show that there are no points of perfect agreement between the partners but
several points of complete diversion, which indicates roles that the other partner is
totally unaware. For instance, patients expect physicians to be nice looking while
physicians never mention it. Physicians expect patients to be brave, while patients
do not think of them as particularly necessary. There are many points to the right or
to the left of the diagonal, too. For instance, patients think that physicians should
have a work ethic while a few physicians discuss it. Physicians think that the patient
should be demanding, while patients perceive it as unkind. Overall, results indicate
that the dyadic nature of relationships is apparently important but it in fact
necessitates a four-way thinking philosophy where the consumer and the provider
think both reflexively and empathetically.
Track: Marketing
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Dr. Berna Tarı Kasnakoğlu and İrem Öztürk, Business Administration, TOBB University of Economics
and Technology, Turkey. Email: btari@etu.edu.tr
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This research is funded by the National Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey
(Project Number: 112K464).