Strategic Marketing Factors for Successful Health Tourism: A Meta‐Analysis

ABSTRACT This study identifies the strategic marketing factors for the success of health tourism using a multi‐method approach involving a content analysis of the literature and a meta‐analysis. We extracted 14 strategic marketing factors and classified them into four categories based on Drucker's strategic marketing theory: competitiveness, market, environment, and business factors. Using a meta‐analysis, we estimated the magnitude of the effect sizes between these factors and the success of health tourism and investigated the moderating effects of the developmental status of the host country on these relationships. The study finds that all 14 strategic marketing factors are significantly associated with the success of health tourism. While most strategy factors exhibit a stronger relationship with the success of health tourism for developing countries, the relationship between competitive pricing and the success of health tourism is stronger for developed nations. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.