Islamic perspectives on risk and insurance marketing

Abstract

This chapter sets out to achieve two key aims: to present the philosophical and critical perspectives underpinning the marketing of Islamic insurance products and services and to provide the foundation and basis for recommending appropriate stepwise marketing practices. A final point of reference is that it is assumed within this chapter that the insurance products in question have been created already and so discussions focus on branding, marketing communications, consumer behaviour and service delivery of these products. Product issues surrounding the design and Sharia’ compliance (codes and laws derived from Islam) fall outside of the scope of this chapter, but are covered in Chapter 26. The chapter thus bridges the gap between conventional marketing theory and practice that calls for specialized understanding, positioning and execution. Having stated this, it is also important to assert that in this chapter, marketing, Islam and Muslims are not viewed as monolithic entities or homogenous units, nor does the marketing of Islamic financial services necessarily signal a complete departure from conventional marketing concepts or simply a niche area. Rather, each are interconnected, culturally rooted and subject to environmental factors. The three key factors argued for are the call to evaluate Muslims’ perspectives concerning risk, appraising the needs of a broad base of stakeholders and modes of communication subject to cultures and geographies