کاوشهای مدیریت بازرگانی (Aug 2021)
The mediating role of the insurance company reputation in the relationship of satisfaction and trust with the loyalty and advisory advertising of the insured
Abstract
Introduction: Nowadays, the service industry has a fundamental and important role in the economic growth and development of countries. In this regard, the role and position of the insurance industry, as a supporting industry, is quite obvious. Insurance is one of the cornerstones of modern life. The insurance industry is rapidly turning into an essential element in the financial sector that contributes significantly to economic growth. The products of the insurance industry are intangible and have a high perceived risk. So, it requires a high level of mental engagement. In this case, recommendatory advertising helps to reduce uncertainty and risk perception. Due to the nature of the insurance industry, advertising more recommendations than other industries influences the decision of those who tend to be insured. The reputation of insurance companies is one of the important factors affecting people's recommendations. In this research, an attempt has been made to examine this issue. The research is conducted on the purpose of understanding the importance of satisfaction and loyalty of the insured for increasing the influence of the insurance industry and the factors affecting it, such as the trust of the insured and the reputation of insurance companies. Methodology: The research method, based on the nature and objectives of the study, is a survey method through which the data were collected. The data were analyzed and then put to correlation tests. The statistical population of the study consisted of the clients of Iran Insurance Legal Agencies in Tehran selected by cluster sampling. There was, indeed, the sampling of multi-stage clusters in which several of the legal insurance agencies of Iran were selected as a cluster and then, in the second stage, a questionnaire was distributed among those who referred to the agencies. According to Morgan's table, since the population size was unlimited, the sample size was determined to be 384 people. As a result, according to the researchers' experience, more questionnaires were distributed in the statistical population of the research, and finally 400 questionnaires were used for the analysis. Their content validity was confirmed by experts and university professors. To evaluate the reliability of the instrument used, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used, and the calculations were performed using version 22 of the SPSS software. For this purpose, a pretest was taken with 30 questionnaires, and then, using the data obtained from these questionnaires, the confidence coefficient was calculated by Cronbach's alpha method. The Trust Scale of the Insured was 83%, the Loyalty Scale was 90%, the Recommendation Promotion Scale was 78%, and the overall reliability of the questionnaire was 85%. These figures indicate that the questionnaire was reliable. A conceptual model and the research hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling using the Smart PLS software. Results and Discussion: After data analysis, it was shown that the customer’s satisfaction and trust through the reputation of the insurance company leads to loyalty and advertising the company. This induces a positive and significant relationship. As a result, it can be said that one of the requirements of loyalty and word of mouth by the insured in Iran is the existence of trust in and satisfaction with the insurer. These two elements accompany the reputation of the insurance company in the competitive environment of the society. The present study is based on four main hypotheses that were all confirmed. Conclusion: The reputation of insurance companies is the most important issue that top managers and marketers of Iran Insurance Company should pay due attention to. By creating satisfaction in the insured, Iran Insurance Company can establish loyalty in them. Since the insurance industry is closely related to other industries, the existence of loyal customers is necessary for the sustainability of the companies. If Iran Insurance Company cannot provide proper services, the customer satisfaction will be lost. Customers are interested in long-term experiences with the company's products and services. Those who are very happy with the insurance company's reputation tend to share their feelings about the company with others. In Iran Insurance Company, the reputation of a company plays an important role in establishing the relationship between the customer’s trust and loyalty. Therefore, honesty and transparency are necessary to create such a trust. When people trust the services of Iran Insurance Company, their word of mouth advertises more purchase. Satisfaction through the reputation of the insurance company increases recommendations and advertisements. Word-of-mouth advertising takes place when customers have confidence in the activities of Iran Insurance Company. In fact, one of the important sources of recommending the services of a company to other people is the customer trust. When a company has a good reputation but does not create the necessary trust in its customers, it will not be advertised. The requisite for creating a word of mouth among customers is the simultaneous existence of the insurance company's reputation and the customer’s trust.
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