Spreading word-of-mouth: the power of emotional satisfaction in dental clinics service narratives

Purpose This study aims to investigate the influence of perceived service quality (PSQ) and service environment (SE) on key patient outcomes – clinic love (CL), clinic image (CI) and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) – within dental clinics, a utilitarian health-care context. It applies the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework to examine emotional dynamics within dental clinics, a utilitarian health-care context in a developing country. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was conducted with 211 patients at a leading dental clinic, using convenience sampling. Constructs were measured with validated multi-item scales, and hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to assess the hypothesized directional associations between service quality, SE, emotional satisfaction (ES) and outcomes (CL, CI and WOM). Findings The results demonstrate that PSQ and SE significantly enhance ES, which strongly drives CL, CI and positive WOM. In addition, both CL and CI directly foster WOM, highlighting their critical role in patient advocacy. These findings provide empirical support for the applicability of the S–O–R framework in utilitarian health-care contexts, emphasizing the pivotal influence of ES in shaping patient loyalty and clinic reputation. Originality/value This study contributes to the limited but growing research applying the S–O–R framework to dental clinics in non-Western contexts. Building on prior work in healthcare and dentistry (e.g. Ladhari et al., 2017; Kandampully et al., 2023), it offers insights from a dental clinic in Iran, a developing country setting, into the role of emotions in utilitarian health care. It extends brand love and image theories, providing novel perspectives on patient-centered care under resource constraints.