What drives parents to consider center-based child care for their children? The case of Bangladesh

•Social image of center-based childcare influences parent’s willingness to use it.•Familiarity and experience with the childcare increase parents’ willingness to use it.•Experience plays a moderating role between social image and willingness to use. To increase our knowledge of the development of childcare services in the less developed world and to assist childcare service providers and policymakers in understanding parents’ perceptions of related newly developed organizations, this study explores the perception-based factors that influence parents’ willingness to use center-based, rather than home-based, childcare in Bangladesh. Grounded in the literature on consumer behavior and psychology, we develop a theoretical framework and hypotheses. We collect data by conducting an interviewer-administered survey instrument to a sample of (potential) childcare users. By employing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) on the survey data, we identify the antecedents of willingness to use center-based childcare. The main findings are that the social image of center-based childcare, the familiarity and the experience with childcare all directly influence the willingness to use this type of care; social image plays a partial mediating role between familiarity and willingness to use; and experience plays a moderating role between social image and willingness to use. In addition, we find that the availability of grandparent care influences the willingness to use this type of childcare. These findings help us understand the factors that influence market demand for childcare service and have managerial implications for both policymakers and service providers.