Analysis of Medical Tourism and the Effect of Using Digital Tools to Profile Travelers in Mexico

The increase of internet services and the availability of new cutting-edge technology, as well as the use of mobile apps and devices, set a major challenge for medical tourism service providers. E-commerce sites and social networks are an important source for consumers’ awareness and knowledge regarding the medical tourism business model in México which has grown at accelerated rates in recent years; therefore their use should be enhanced by formalizing this activity, and creating integrated commercial strategies. Word‐of‐mouth and the Internet are consumers’ preferred sources of information for medical tourism, where trust is elemental for the perception of quality online information. The use of social networks as a means of reference and information based on other users’ experiences and recommendations, as well as the use of mobile applications, have contributed to making electronic commerce increasingly profitable for companies that incorporate them in their business model. This research analyzes the preferences of consumption of medical tourism services in Mexico to determine the effect of formalizing the offer of services with the help of a digital platform on the consumers’ experiences. The study seeks to determine, through the integration of different cluster methodologies, which are the profiles of medical tourism travelers to better predict their consumption habits and channel the various options available through the use of digital tools and social networks to promote the most attractive alternatives for consumers’ benefit, which translates into higher sales impacting the entire value chain of this sector. © 2021, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.