The Influence of Community Marketing, Service Quality, and Digital Marketing on Visit Decisions Mediated by Trust in Hospitals (Study at Bali Mandara Eye Hospital)

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Service Quality and Digital Marketing Drive Patient Trust and Visit Decisions at Bali Mandara Eye Hospital

A social science study published in September 2026 reveals that service quality and digital marketing significantly strengthen patient trust and influence hospital visit decisions. The research was conducted by Ida Ayu Sri Indirayati from Universitas Triatma Mulya in Bali, Indonesia. Published in the International Journal of Contemporary Sciences (IJCS), the study evaluates patient healthcare choices at Bali Mandara Eye Hospital, a major government referral hospital in Bali. The findings offer actionable insights for healthcare management, demonstrating how patient trust acts as a vital bridge between modern healthcare marketing strategies and timely medical consultation.

Background and Relevance

Patient decisions to visit hospitals play a central role in modern healthcare systems by ensuring early diagnosis, preventing clinical complications, and improving medical resource utilization. Despite the importance of timely medical care, many individuals delay hospital visits due to financial worries, long travel distances, extended waiting times, and hesitation regarding medical procedures. Furthermore, growing digital access has raised public expectations for transparent health information and high-standard clinical care. In an increasingly competitive healthcare environment, hospital management must go beyond providing technical medical expertise. Developing integrated strategies that combine community engagement, transparent digital marketing, and superior service quality is essential for building public trust and encouraging patients to seek care without hesitation.

Simplified Methodology

The study utilized a quantitative explanatory research design to investigate the causal relationships between marketing practices, service standards, patient trust, and visiting decisions. Ida Ayu Sri Indirayati collected empirical data from 125 active patients at Bali Mandara Eye Hospital using a structured Likert-scale questionnaire administered through purposive sampling. The research data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) executed on SmartPLS 4.0 software. The analytical framework examined the direct impacts of community marketing, service quality, and digital marketing on patient visit decisions, while also evaluating patient trust as a mediating variable.

Key Findings

Statistical evaluations confirmed that hospital operations, digital outreach, and service standards directly shape patient behavior:

• Direct Positive Effects: Community marketing, service quality, and digital marketing each exert a positive and statistically significant direct influence on patient decisions to visit Bali Mandara Eye Hospital.
• Service Quality as the Primary Driver: Service quality emerged as the single most powerful factor in building patient trust, recording the highest Average Variance Extracted (AVE) value of 0.679 among all tested constructs.
• Mediating Role of Patient Trust: Patient trust partially mediates the impact of both service quality and digital marketing on patient visit decisions. High service standards and reliable digital communications build strong patient confidence, which subsequently drives the final decision to choose the hospital.
• Community Marketing Dynamics: While community marketing activities—such as eye health screenings and educational programs in local schools—successfully enhance patient trust, trust does not significantly mediate the relationship between community marketing and visit decisions.

Implications and Real-World Impact

These empirical findings provide valuable guidelines for hospital administrators, healthcare marketers, and public health policymakers. Hospital leaders should prioritize core service improvements, including healthcare staff responsiveness, operational reliability, empathy, and comfortable facilities, as these factors directly establish patient confidence. Additionally, healthcare organizations must invest in digital communication channels, such as official websites, social media platforms, and educational video podcasts, to deliver transparent and credible health information. By combining patient-centered medical service with accessible digital content, healthcare institutions can eliminate patient hesitation, streamline healthcare access, and improve overall public health outcomes.

Highlighting the practical implications of the findings, Ida Ayu Sri Indirayati from Universitas Triatma Mulya concluded, "Service quality serves as the most dominant factor in building patient trust, while patient trust plays a critical mediating role in encouraging individuals to choose and utilize hospital healthcare services".

Author Profile:

Ida Ayu Sri Indirayati is an academic researcher affiliated with Universitas Triatma Mulya, Bali, Indonesia, specializing in healthcare management, consumer behavior, and strategic hospital marketing.

Source Information:

• Article Title: The Influence of Community Marketing, Service Quality, and Digital Marketing on Visit Decisions Mediated by Trust in Hospitals (Study at Bali Mandara Eye Hospital)
• Journal Name: International Journal of Contemporary Sciences (IJCS)
• Publication Year: 2026 (Vol. 4, No. 9, pp. 2367–2380)
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.55927/a6p90h20
• Official URL: https://journalijcs.my.id/index.php/ijcs