Addressing the research needs of the insurance sector

Purpose: the paper reports on HEIF4 funded research exploring the important areas of research currently being conducted by insurance research practitioners and identifies the key challenges they face when conducting this research. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical data was collected via 10 in-depth telephone interviews and 2 separate round table group discussions with research practitioners in the general insurance sector. Findings: three key challenges were identified: over-researching and respondent fatigue; the increasing use of incentives and the emergence of professional respondents; and the problem of ensuring research credibility. The findings reveal the need to update research practices, to take account of the changing context within which research is undertaken, discussing research methodologies, social issues as well as the evolving and ever changing nature of research. Research limitations/implications (if applicable): the study focused on the general insurance sector, the challenges identified reflect in part the unique nature of this sector but are likely to be equally applicable to other financial services sector. It would therefore be useful to explore the prevalence of these challenges in other financial sectors. Practical implications: the paper calls on academic researchers to address the challenges identified. Research practitioners want further information, guidance and to learn from ‘best practice’ on how new research techniques can be used to provide quality and timely research; the impact incentives have on research in a business and management context; and how the value of research can be measured. These implications are discussed against a financial backdrop and takes account of academic, practitioner and industry challenges. Originality/value; Academic research on marketing in the insurance context remains scant, this paper highlights the needs and challenges of this sector

Effects of In-Store Decorative Elements on Children Shopping Behaviour

Children play a significant role in determining the family's shopping expenses, which is as important as an adult's. However, the research found that having a child companion can reduce positive shopping values due to the child's behaviour. The focus of this research is to understand the effects of in-store decorative elements on children aged between three to seven years of shopping experience. The qualitative methodology using ethnography studies is employed to identify key factors affecting children's emotional and behavioural responses. It also discusses research insight that could help to improve business strategy for children customers. Keywords: Children's shopping experience; shopping atmospheric variables; in-store decorative elements; ethnography studies. eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7iSI7.375

Consumer trust and confidence in the compliance of Islamic banks

Islamic banks compete with traditional (non-Islamic) banks for customers. This article aims to provide insight into why some Muslims choose to bank with Islamic banks in Pakistan, while others do not. Specifically, it addresses the questions: to what extent are trust and confidence active influencers in the decision-making process, are they differentiated or are they one of the same? Also how does the Pakistani collective cultural context further complicate the application of these concepts? For the purposes of this article trust refers to people and their interpersonal or social relations whereas confidence concerns institutions such as banks. Drawing on interviews with Muslim consumers in Pakistan, this study provides further insight into consumer behaviour within financial services and specifically Islamic banking and contributes to our theoretical understanding of the concepts of trust and confidence

Consuming through COVID-19: the pleasures and pain of consuming amongst young adults

This paper examines how consumption has been used to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular it investigates the nature of consumption decisions, focusing on the hedonic nature of consuming. This study examines the participants consumption patterns from the start of the pandemic and as the pandemic progressed. A key aspect of this study is to understand how media messages influenced the evolving nature of consumption throughout the pandemic amongst young adults

Consuming to cope: the luxury of consuming in the COVID-19 pandemic

Set in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic this paper examines the consumption choices of participants during the pandemic, presenting an exploratory study of how consumption was used as a means of coping with the crisis. It investigates the nature of consumption decisions and the key factors that influenced these choices. The findings suggest that the uncertainties, the pressures, and the unknown aspects of COVID-19 influenced participants. Government and media communication did little to inform the public and with the lack of information, consumption was used as a coping strategy. Moreover, the article details the pleasure experienced by participants of consuming luxury in the crisis and the hedonic nature of luxury consumption. These findings have direct relevance to future research on how luxury consumption is perceived and used to cope with crisis situations

The Role of Relationally Embedded Network Ties in Resource Acquisition of British Nonprofit Organizations

As nonprofit and charity organizations face increasing competition, there have been growing interests in how nonprofit organizations conduct commercial activities to raise funds as well as grow their business. However, there is lack of prior research about market-oriented and/or commercial activities in the context of nonprofit business. This study examines the process of how nonprofit organizations use relationally embedded network ties to acquire financial, human, and human capital resources to fulfill their social mission and achieve business growth. The study investigates commercial activity of three U.K.-based nonprofit organizations using the case study method. The findings contribute to insights into components of network ties for acquiring three different network resources of financial, human, and human capital. Nonprofit organizations leverage social mission to improve their ability to acquire network resources. The findings also suggest the charity and social mission of nonprofit business enhance trustworthiness in relationally embedded network ties for resource acquisition

An exploration of children’s understanding of luxury: a visual approach

In this article we investigate children’s perception and visual understanding of luxury and luxury brands. We explore what luxury means to children and whether their understanding of luxury is based on their own individual views or on those projected by luxury brands. Children’s appreciation of luxury, ranging from its personal meaning to its design and aesthetic value and to the importance of the brand, is investigated. While a plethora of studies have examined luxury, luxury consumption and the meaning of luxury, scant work focuses on luxury from the perspective of the younger consumer, and specifically those between 11-16 years old. This article is the first to use visual collages to gain an understanding of children’s perception of luxury and luxury brands. The findings provide important insights into how children’s understanding and perception of luxury and luxury brands vary by gender and age. Hence, the article is of value to scholars and practitioners seeking to gain an appreciation of children’s understanding of luxury and luxury brands

An exploratory study on the use of banking technology in the UK: A ranking of importance of selected technology on consumer perception of service delivery performance

Purpose - The current exploratory study is an attempt to discover the underlying areas of dissatisfaction associated with the banking experience in the UK, particularly as it relates to the implementation of new service delivery technology in the banking industry. Design/methodology/approach - The data for this study was collected in two stages. In stage one, three focus groups were conducted using bank customers from the southern part of the USA to generate items important to users of financial services in the USA. These items were then considered by a number of bank customers in the UK (Bristol and Bournemouth area) to insure equivalence of constructs and measurements. Stage two involved distributing 300 surveys to a convenience sample of electronic banking customers from the sampling area of interest in the UK. In order to qualify, respondents had to have used one of the available electronic banking services offered by the bank at least once during the previous month. Findings - The importance-performance grid demonstrates that two of the factors and their underlying attributes fall into the "Keep up the good work" quadrant and the other two factors fall into the "Low priority" quadrant. The first two are areas the organization needs to allocate resources in order to maintain the level of service they provide their clients. From a strategic point of view, this grid provides a tool for strategy development as it gives a clear picture of the factors that are critical for resource allocation. Research limitations/implications - The primary limitation of this study is the scope and size of its sample. Nonetheless, the study does provide evidence for the development and use of the I-P grid for preliminary identification and assessment of customer measures of service quality. Originality/value - By demonstrating the feasibility of the approach taken by the study, it should be possible for financial institutions to utilize similar procedures when evaluating the overall satisfaction levels of their customers' banking experience. It also allows service providers to consider the changing needs and wants of customers' in the financial sector