Honors Students' Abstracts
The Effects of Education, Experience, and Country of Origin on Comfort, Trust, and Likelihood of Choosing a Physician
Richelle Haniffa
Previous research has shown a distinct correlation between in-group favoritism and out-group animosity pertaining to consumer decision-making. Consumer animosity is a prevalent measure that is meant to help marketers further understand consumer attitudes towards foreign products and/or services. This study seeks to examine the effects and interaction of prior education, years of experience, and country of origin of a practicing primary care physician on a patient’s trust, comfort, and likelihood of choosing a potential doctor. I believe this study can lend itself to the lack of existing research regarding the impact of cultural animosity and judgment on experience and educational prestige. I have created an online survey that seeks to gather data pertaining to other key covariate variables such as the respondents’ own ethnic identification as well as his or her animosity towards the physician’s ethnic background. The study controlled for the participant’s demographic, and is being conducted using a Univariate ANOVA on a between-subjects design.