This study aims to provide useful foundational data for improving customer contact points and service quality in medical skincare, and to help establish efficient marketing strategies for the competitive medical skincare industry. As modern society's ...
This study aims to provide useful foundational data for improving customer contact points and service quality in medical skincare, and to help establish efficient marketing strategies for the competitive medical skincare industry. As modern society's cultural level has improved and medical skincare has advanced, customer demands for service quality have diversified. This study examines the relationship between encounter quality, customer engagement, and emotional responses in medical skincare. To verify these relationships, a survey was conducted from January 7 to January 11, 2025, with Korean women aged 20-59 nationwide who had experience using medical skincare services. A total of 350 questionnaire data were analyzed and ultimately utilized for this study.
The results of this study are as follows: First, according to the analysis on the impact of medical skincare encounter quality on customer engagement, the sub-factors of encounter quality—job performance capability, interaction, service attitude, and physical environment—significantly influenced purchase engagement in that order. Additionally, for recommendation engagement and value engagement, the higher the levels of interaction, service attitude, and physical environment among the sub-factors of encounter quality, the more significant the impact.
Second, according to the impact of medical skincare encounter quality on emotional response, all factors of encounter quality significantly influenced pleasure and dominance among the sub-factors of emotional response. For arousal, only interaction, physical environment, and service attitude among the sub-factors of encounter quality were significantly influenced.
Third, according to the impact of emotional response on customer engagement revealed that among the sub-factors of emotional response, pleasure and dominance significantly influenced purchase engagement, with pleasure having approximately twice the impact. This confirms that the greater the pleasure customers feel, the more positive the impact on purchase engagement. Additionally, for recommendation and influential value engagement, all sub-factors of emotional response had significant effects, with dominance showing the greatest impact. This confirmed that customer engagement is positively influenced when customers can act autonomously and proactively.
Fourth, according to the analysis on the mediating effect of emotional response in the relationship between medical skincare encounter quality and customer engagement, pleasure and arousal in emotional response fully mediated the relationship between job performance capability, a sub-factor of encounter quality, and influential value engagement. Dominance fully mediated the relationship between job performance capability in encounter quality and recommendation engagement.
Given all the results of this study, service encounter quality in medical skincare strengthens positive emotional response (PAD) in customers, and consequently tends to increase customer engagement. In particular, emotional experience arising from interactions with service providers was confirmed to have a significant impact on customers' long-term loyalty and continued service use. Additionally, the results indicated that customized service strategies should differ by age group.
This study provides useful foundational data for the medical skincare industry to induce customer emotional response and maximize customer engagement through customized service strategies. In particular, it suggests the importance of strategies to increase customer loyalty and revisit rates by providing services that fulfill emotional satisfaction. Based on these results, it is expected that medical skincare providers can establish differentiated marketing and service strategies that meet customer needs, helping to secure competitiveness in the future.