The consumer choice between the private doctors and the healthcare clinics

There are not many studies on healthcare from the point of view of the healthcare consumers. The study did not reveal substantial difference between the two healthcare service providers in the eyes of the consumers on the basis of their preference for the healthcare attributes included in the study. Higher income groups of consumers did not attach importance to the cost of healthcare and, the time spent by the doctors with them. Similarly, the eldest consumers were not much worried about the cost of the healthcare. The youngest consumers preferred 'convenient location'. The consumers in the middle age belong neither to the youngest nor to the eldest in their preference towards 'convenient location', 'friendly staff', and 'quick appointment'. The study concludes that the consumers cannot be segmented on the basis of 'doctor consumers' and 'clinic consumers', but they can be segmented on the basis of the demographic characteristics of income and age.