Effect of New Bundled Services on Doctors’ Online Social and Economic Returns: Evidence from an Online Health Community

To attract more patients and improve the quality of health services, online health communities (OHCs) have launched a bundling feature that provides patients with a package of two or more existing health services for a discounted price. Existing bundling research has mostly focused on traditional industries, whereas bundled services in the field of professional health and their effects are usually neglected. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of bundling strategy on doctors’ online returns in OHCs. We focus on the effects of the launch of bundled services on separate components (doctors’ economic return) and online reputation (social return) and study the moderating effects of doctors’ characteristics on these returns. Based on analyses using a difference-in-difference model, we find that the launch of bundled services can positively affect doctors’ online reputation and part of separate components. A doctor’s tenure also moderates the effects of bundled services on doctors’ returns. Our study provides several theoretical implications for researchers and practical contributions for OHCs administrators.