Business-Consumer Communication: A Qualitative Study on Brand Equity Approach Maternity Care

Abstract

Maternity care communication is a generative topic both globally and nationally. Maternity care research has predominately dealt with mental health or physical environment issues, with little focus on healthcare providers’ innovative business-consumer communication or brand management. With the application of brand equity in maternity care communication in social media cases, the purpose of the present study to investigate matching between organizational identity and the represented image. Theoretical grounding elucidates the evidence of digital innovation in action. Qualitative methodology allows eliciting further research directions with relevant research instruments. Two Lithuania-based healthcare sector organization cases with equal value parameters (time, place, activities, and context) are researched. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis, based on virtual observation, is performed. The gap between what organizations want to communicate and what they actually communicate is identified. Managerial and communication actions creating premises for collaborative behaviour and value creation by specific communication tools across such issues as medical influencers, community managers, or readiness for managing healthcare during the pandemic are surveyed. Research limitations due to the narrowness in scope, investigating only two cases within a specific field, are counterbalanced by the completeness of the quantitative and qualitative inquiry into social media data. Despite this, this innovatory study not only expands academic knowledge, suggests an instance of methodology and a research sample, possibly adaptable to varying contexts, but also implies potential issues for communication and management practitioners at healthcare institutions, suggesting apprehensible solutions.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54663/2182-9306.2022.v10.n19.184-205