The art of building initial trust in medical services

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the antecedents of the patient’s initial trust in the doctor. In this sense, it is proposed that trust in the hospital plays a mediating role in the relationship between the physical evidence in the service environment and the patient’s initial trust in the doctor. Design/methodology/approach Two experimental studies with factorial between-subjects design with random assignment were used. The data were analyzed through an analysis of variance. Findings The results show that design and social factors affect the patient’s initial trust in the doctor through his trust in the hospital. The results also showed that reputation and recommendation affect the initial trust. Originality/value This is the first study to consider antecedents of patient’s initial trust in the doctor. Most of the studies about trust focuses on investigating trust in situations where there is a prior relationship; however, this study arises some evidences that trust starts to be constructing even before the patient properly meets the doctor. These findings are valuable because they highlight the importance of physical evidences, reputation and positive word-of-mouth for building initial trust.