How to guarantee online service quality of physicians on the health platforms?

Purpose – Drawing on motivation theory, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework through which to investigate the impact of physicians’ extrinsic and intrinsic motivations on their online service quality while considering the contingencies of platform enjoyment and hospital reputation. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a mixed data set collected from 384 participating physicians on a prominent online health platform in China (Alihealth), this study conducted hierarchical regressions to evaluate the empirical model. Findings – Our results demonstrate that both the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations of physicians positively affect their online service quality. The positive relationship between physicians’ extrinsic motivation and online service quality is strengthened by their enjoyment of the platform and weakened by the reputation of the hospital, while the relationship between the intrinsic motivation of physicians and online service quality is weakened by their enjoyment of the platform. Originality/value – By investigating the relationship between physicians’ motivation and their online service quality, as well as the influence of platform enjoyment and hospital reputation on this relationship, this study contributes to the literature on motivation theory and online services within the context of online health platforms. It provides valuable insights on enhancing the quality of online medical services for healthcare practitioners.