Validation of Brand Citizenship Behavior Development Model in Medical Tourism Employees

Background: Medical tourism industry as a service industry needs to take measures including branding to attract and retain tourists. This study was conducted with the aim of improving branding in medical centers active in medical tourism, through the test of the brand citizenship behavior development model of employees, which was calculated from a qualitative research based on the Foundation Data Model. Methods: The current field-survey research was conducted on a sample of 384 employees in contact with patients, 10 hospitals with admission departments for international patients in Tehran city, selected using convenience sampling method. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated with Cronbach’s alpha index and composite reliability, and its validity was evaluated using content validity and construct validity. Data analysis was done by structural equation modeling using SPSS 22 and Smart Pls 3 software. Results: All research hypotheses were confirmed, including the effect of causal categories in the three dimensions of organization, employee, and tourist on brand citizenship behavior, the effect of intervening and foundational categories on comprehensive marketing and branding planning except for organizational justice and social responsibility of the organization, the impact of brand citizenship behavior on the comprehensive planning of marketing and branding and finally the effect of brand citizenship behavior by mediation of comprehensive planning of marketing and branding on the consequences related to tourists, organizations, employees and extra-organizations. The evaluation of the structural part of the model and the relationship between the internal and external construct also indicated the optimal fit of the model. Conclusion: Attracting the support of employees in the direction of extra-role behaviors that strengthen brand identity and benefit from its positive organizational and extra-organizational results, requires the attention of managers and relevant officials to various organizational, managerial, individual, etc. factors. Moreover, creating a strong brand in medical centers requires comprehensive planning to increase the participation of employees of these centers.