Medical advice-seeking behaviors based on transaction cost theory

BACKGROUND: Given the global trend of aging societies, medical expenditure has hit record highs in many countries. Because medical advice-seeking behaviors can affect the health of whole societies, how members of a society make medical-related decisions with limited available resources is worthy of investigation. Although transaction cost theory has been extensively applied in commercial research, it is yet to be applied in studies on medical advice-seeking behaviors. METHOD AND RESULTS: This study conducted in-depth interviews with 15 participants and verified that transaction cost theory is applicable for analyzing people’s medical advice-seeking behaviors. CONCLUSION: This study verified that transaction cost theory influenced the participants’ choices of physicians and treatment methods, which implies that improved transparency of medical information could considerably reduce transaction costs in relation to medical behaviors and enhance people’s well-being.