Service Quality in General Insurance Sector: An Empirical Study

Author(s): B. Gopalkrishna, Lewlyn L. R. Rodrigues and K. V. M. Varambally

Source: Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Jul., 2008), pp. 49-61
Published by: Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources
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Article
inGeneral

Service Quality

Sector: An Empirical

Insurance

Study
B. Gopalkrishna,

Lewlyn

L.R. Rodrigues

& K.V.M.

Varambally

Introduction
Ever

since

the

days

of Crosby

(1979) measurement of quality with

increased

The service

in the
quality research
area of insurance
isyet to gain full
momentum despite
the fact that it
is one of thefastest growing service
a
sectors.
The Paper
develops

metrics

service

for

specifically
sector
and

the

for
the same
apply
the perception

investigate
service quality. The
the service
quality
insurance
dimensions
identified
to
drawn

quality
insurance

systems, processes

with

Parasuraman
a series
has been

to

of
study reveals
in the
gaps

the existing
and practices.

the work

initiated

et al.

by

Thereafter,
(1988).
of research on service quality
carried

services
healthcare

industry. The weaker

of service quality are
are
and
implications
improve

progress.
dominant

level of precision
has been in
on
The focus
services became

in a wide

out

including
units

insurance,
banks,
and
hospitals,

travel

hospitality,

and public

government
software,

range of

advertising

and
tourism,
IT and
services,
and marketing,

services,
logistics
library services,
educational
institutes, cellular services,
retail etc. (Nwankwo
& Richardson

1994,Gagliano & Hathcote 1994,Curry

1999, Sekhon & Kennington 2001,

Oliva

2001,

Sureshchandar

et al. 2001,

2002, Babakus & Mangold 1992,Dutta

& Sridhar 2002, Duncan & Elliot 2002,
2004, Sahney, Karunes &
Jayawardhena
Banwet
2005,
2004,
Rodrigues
Groesser & Techn 2005).

B. Gopalakrishna

I. R. Rodrigues

Manipal
K. V.M.

is a Research

Scholar

Institute of Technology,

Karnataka576104.

of Manipal
is Director
Varambally
Karnataka
576104.
of Management,

49

and Lewlyn

isAdditional Professor in the

Institute

on the
Focussing
specifically
service
of
insurance
aspect
quality
there are three parties viz.,
business,

IJIR, Vol. 44, No.

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1, July 2008

The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations

seller

the

of
and

Literature

insurance

insurance,
of
buyer

company
In insurance,
service quality
products.
relates to six broad aspect of business:
of raw or original
the
data;
quality

quality of derived data; quality of

at all levels;
of employees
performance
of equipment
quality of performance
at
of
decision
and machinery;
quality
all

of services

related

levels; quality
to financial aspect
involved (Rosander
a
the past two decades
1985). Since
of
researchers
have
conducted
group
active

in

research

insurance.

Klose

customer

service

customer
reduce

area

the

of
and

on Risk

worked

to

service

encounters.

has
(1993)
insurance
commercial

South

examined

in

has

(1990)

Insurance.

Keeling
various

the

available

options

insurance,

property

public

liability insurance, and legal liability

-

policies

developments
insurance

as

as

well

in
and

the

latent

how

latest

defect
can

this

be

(2003) has studied

arranged. Atmanand
insurance and disaster management
in
the Indian context

and attempted to fill

in the role of the insurance

the gap
sector

in
have

(2004)

disaster
analysed

in

forefront

been

the past two decades

a wide spectrum of service

aspects

under

the

Vol. 44, No.

insurance

significant works
are
in this area
of

service
and

SERVQUAL

The

on

work

pioneering

SERVQUAL models was undertakenby

Parasuraman

et al., (1985). Their work

has been influenced by those by a group
of researchers (Woodward
1965, Reeves

& Woodward

LeMasters

They

issues related

defined

to service quality.
service

the perceived
the difference

quality gap as
consumer expectations

&

1983) on

Heffring 1982, Deshpande

various

1979,

1970, Mintzberg

1981, Zaltman,

between

and perceptions.

the metrics of
They developed
a
SERVQUAL with 22-item scale that

measures

service

quality

along

five

factors, viz.

reliability, responsiveness,
assurance,
empathy and tangibles. This
metrics has been adopted by a number
of researchers in service quality research
across

a wide

of

spectrum

service

sectors.

SERVPERF model is theperception

part of SERVQUAL model, which
in terms of
quality
based on the
of customers

service

performance
Sureshchandar

of

service
et

providers.
al

(2001)

service quality by taking

conceptualizes
in to account all the aspects of customer
service
perceived
including
quality,
those already addressed
in the existing

instruments and those that are left out in

sector.

UIR,

in the

since

and covered
quality

has

quality
Insurance.

i.e.

quality
SERVPERF.

perceptions

of third

sector. The

exclusively
on two models
focussed

a case

benchmarking
in Health
management
research

insurance
done

measures

party

Insurance

present research is specifically

on service
in the
quality

management.
and Steen

Bihari-Axelson

Axelson,

The
focused

Zeithaml

discusses

(1993)

guarantees
insurance as ways
consumers'
risk
perceived

service

Review

insurance

1, July 2008

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50

Service Quality

inGeneral

the empirical

service

Insurance Sector: An Empirical Study

quality

literature.

He identifiedfive factors (dimensions)

of service

quality

as critical

from the

point of view. These are: 1.

core service (service product); 2. human
customers'

element

of

service

3.

volume

of business.

The

respondents

(insurancepolicy holders) were based in

the service providers
India; however,
included
several
multi-national

companies.

Statistical

descriptive

statistics,

tools
factor

delivery
of service delivery (non
systemization
human element) 4. tangibles of service
and
5.
social
(servicescapes)

hypothesis
testing
using
of Variance
Analysis
(ANOVA)
used to analyse the data.

Unlike

the customised

In the present
responsibility.
study
customised SERVPERF
model was used.

other studies, which

across
service
comparisons
this study has been focussed
Insurance

Research
The

had

industries,
on General

sector alone.

has been carried out on

sampling basis with

size of 618. The primary data
was through self-administered

The procedure
questionnaire.
adopted
was to distribute 2500 questionnaires.

On regular follow-up 632 questionnaires

were collected
rate - 25.3%)
(Response
out of which
14 were discarded
as they

were

run was
Pilot
incomplete.
conducted
for a focus
of 35
group
insurance holders and the questionnaire
was modified
based on the suggestions.
The secondary data was through meta

analysis and in-depth interviews with the

frontline staff, customers and managers
of insurance
The
companies.
study
groups consisted
scale
industrial
insurance

of small

and medium

customers

of general
strata
The

companies.
two types of companies
viz.,
private and public and three regions viz.,
volume and low
high volume, medium
included

51

used

were

in this research

SERVPERF

instruments

analysis,
t-test and

have

is

instrument.
been

slightly

to fit into the specific

modified

of the insurance
instrument

sector. The

considers

service

a stratified random
a sample
collection

The

requirements
SERVPERF

Methodology
research

The metrics

as

such

as a measure
of
quality
perception alone. The 40 item scale has
been reduced
through factor analysis
into

five

have
been
factors, which
to be the five key service
dimensions.

considered
quality

Findings
The

findings
under

grouped
categories.

of this

are

research

the

two

following
first part refers to the
statistics which
gives the

The

descriptive
general perceptions of the customers
insurance sector service quality and

on

the

second part deals with the hypothesis

testing and drawing

enhance
the quality

General

Insurance

Descriptive

inferences

of service

so as to
in the

sector.

Statistics

Analysis

The analyses of descriptive

statistics
some key revelations
on service

made

quality perception.

The analysis

IJIR, Vol. 44, No.

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has been

I, July 2008

The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations

made by using customised SERVPERF

instruments

used

which

in service

Following

are

have

slightlybetterthanthatof thepublic

sectors, as indicated
score (table 2).

been widely
measurement.

quality
the inferences

drawn

through the analyses.

'human element', which

is the basic
of
service
sector,
any
requirement
have been ranked poorly among the

providers
give more
to
of Service'
importance
'Tangibles
and
less
(Servicescape)
importance
to
'core
service'.
Social

responsibility'
importance

five dimensions

This

to the

4) Reliability,
element

give more
of Service'

to

importance

by

the

to the other

both in region-wise as well

as ownership-wise
classification.

to
social
importance
in
result
would
lowering
responsibility
index (SQI)'
the 'service
quality

Lesser

et al. 2003) towards

(Sureshchandar
small scale industries, this is a primary
factor which forms a 'gap' between
customer

and

expectation

service

provided.

provided by private sector and public

with
sector
insurance
providers
reference to the five service quality
The

dimensions.
private

insurance

IJIR, Vol. 44, No.

service

quality

providers

of
is

comprising

core

human
ensures

also

influence

'reliability'.
5)

Non-human
standardized
processes,
technological
information

element

comprising
and simplified delivery
of
enhancement
and

i.e.
capability
communication

and
fool-proof
procedures
is
processes
moderately perceived by
the customers but poorly perceived by
tools,

the private sector customers. Hence,

the private sector needs to consider
their
and upgrade
this seriously

facilities

2) There is a subtle difference between

of the service
the perceptions

and

these two dimensions

insurance

in comparison

companies
dimensions

so that

the need for

this further emphasizes
providing training in these areas, as

(Servicescape)
Tangibles
and less importance to 'core service'.
is given least
'Social responsibility'
importance

providers

quality.
attention

service,
up of service
promises,
keeping
service. So,
error-free and accurate

1) The small scale companies, which are

insured, have perceived that insurance
providers

of service

for immediate

they provide the necessary

training
and development
programs to their
to enhance their skills.
employees

given
insurance

in comparison
companies
other dimensions.

calls

from the service

least

the

by

It is surprising to note that the

3)

Insurance

is

by the mean

and IT infrastructure.

Reliability & Validity of the

Instruments

In this research
value

has been

used

Cronbach's
in order

the internal consistency

1, July 2008

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alpha
to assess

of the results

52

re

CoCi o

Cis

to si

s?

Std.
%
dev.
Mean
R
Mean
R
%
Std.
Mean
dev.
R

dev.
Std.
%
Mean
R
dev.
R

Dimensions

Public

Sector

Company

Sector

618)
243)
(N
(N=195)
(N=180)
=
3.4414

68.828

4.
Tangibility
3.6377
72.754
0.7146
13.6527
3.4589
73.054
0.7072
169.178
0.7236
23.5872
0.7187
71.744
I
Dimensions
High
Volume
Region
Medium
Region
Low
Volume
Region
Combined
Sample
Volume
2.
Human
3.4801
69.602
0.6386
43.4824
469.648
0.6245
3.3583
67.166
0.6208
43.4426
0.6291
68.852
4
1.
Core
services
3.5394
70.788
0.6416
33.5801
0.6207
3
71.602
3.4501
69.002
0.6259
33.5272
70.544
0.6299
3element

Company

Private
0.7080

Combined

Sample

2.
Human
element
3.3236
66.472
0.6283
3.7254
74.508
40.5347
33.4426
68.852
0.6291
4
1.
Core
services
3.4107
68.214
0.6493
3.8043
30.4795
76.086
2
3.5272
70.544
0.6299
3
78.676
2
3.
Non
human
element
3.8678
77.356
0.4940
68.606
3.4303
10.5137
53.5882
71.764
0.5380
1
3.9338

0.6201

3.
Non
human
element
3.5778
71.556
0.5430
23.6268
0.5532
72.536
23.4598
69.196
0.5008
13.5598
71.196
0.5380
2

in

total

agreement

with

Overall
Overall

5.
Social
Responsibility
3.3572
67.144
0.5918
5
3.3592
0.5707
67.184
53.2546
65.092
0.6006
5
3.3256
66.512
0.5875
5
Udupi
Ranking
and Public

(1**);
Sector

& SK
are

in

have

correlation

of

total

agreement

(1**);

0.849**
with
Overall
5.
Social
Responsibility
3.256
65.12
0.6140
70.148
3.5074
50.4731
43.3256
66.512
0.5875
5
correlation
no
Practically

(N=435)
= (N
618)
(N=183)

SERVPERF

Table
2: Descriptive SERVPERF
(Ownership-wise)
Statistics

(Region-wise)
Correlation
is
0.01
the
at
significant

level
(2-tailed).

Correlation

is

Statistics

at
0.01
the
significant

Correlation:

Correlation:

4^

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oc

Rank

The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations

All

are greater

the values

minimum

than

validation

the

there by
requirements
are
that the instruments

indicating

Covariance

is concerned.

using

performed

procedure.

Item-wise

as far as their

reliable,
considerably
internal consistency

been

has

statistical

'reliability'
has been

Matrix

for the instrument used

using
calculated

in this research

(table 3). The values ofAlpha Cronbach

across

items within

the

instruments

used

value

a test. The

in this

research

a proved validity, as they

already
are the derivatives
of valid instruments
have

used

researchers
by various
including
Ahire et al (1996),
and Sureshchandar
et al (2003).

Further, the data has been

to content,
and
criterion
In addition,
item
validity.

subjected
construct
Table

3:

SERVPERF

Item-wise

Performance

of above

the criteria
consistency
established

is considered

scales

to be

respectively

(Nunnally, 1988). All the values are

greater than the minimum

requirements
there by indicating that the instruments
are considerably
reliable, as far as their
internal consistency

Reliability

using

is concerned.

Covariance

Scale Mean if Scale Variance

if ItemDeleted
ItemDeleted

SERVQUAL
Service quality

0.6

for demonstrating
internal
newof
and
scales

Matrix

Corrected Item
Total Correlation

Alpha if
ItemDeleted

0.7510
0.7832
0.6998
0.7008
0.7354

0.8592
0.8516
0.8722
0.8749
0.8633

Dimensions

1. Core service
2. Human element of service
3. Non human element of service
4. Tangible of service
5. Social responsibility

13.915
13.998
13.882
13.855
14.116

4.3496
4.2842
4.7833
4.1506
4.5345

Alpha Cronbach Reliability: 0.8913

Factbr

Analysis

using

Principal

ComponentAnalysis (PCA) methodwith

Varimax

Variation

Rotation

was

used

through
to generate

have measured

what

they were

expected

to measure.

Kaiser

factors.

Gap Analysis

The

results of the analysis

indicating the
and Eigen Values
variance
percentage
are given
in table 4. The
required
numbers of factors have been forced and
0.4 were

only factor
considered.

above
loadings
The percentage
variance
extracted by the given number of factors
in SERVPERF
is 60.76. Thus, with a

reasonable
be concluded

UIR,

it can

degree of confidence,
that the instruments used

Vol. 44, No.

The

based
analysis
classification

gap

ownership-wise
insurance sector was
results are shown

on
of

performed and the

in figures land 2. The

salient features are:

gap
Equal
dimensions

among all the 5

in ownership-wise

exists

comparisons.

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54

Service Quality

inGeneral

Insurance Sector: An Empirical Study

Table 4: Factor Analysis of SERVPERF

Variables

Factor

15
12
14
22
11
13
10
17
24
16
21
23
06
35

Variables

Factor

Factor

Factor

Factor

.750
.710
.673
.658
.653
.651
.632
.614
.611
.600
.583
.528
.523
.509
19
09
02
08
01
03
18
07
20
40
38

.459
.386
.722
.655
.639
.620
.586
.555
.525
.485
.470
.800
.775
30.743
31 .718
29
32

33 .453 .695
12 .314 .640
25 .348 .503
27
28.341
05

.464
.323
26
38
37
36.379

Eigen values
% Variance
Extraction:

Principal

.846
.778
.564
.496
.754
.745

.461
.423
39
.316
7.109
14.484

40.693
18.503
Component

.380

.348

Analysis,

Varimax

.323
.396
4.705
13.633
Rotation,

Converged

4.233
4.020
8.046

6.095

in 13 iterations.

55UIR, Vol 44,No. 1,July 2008

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The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations

of services. Non-human
Tangibles
element and Core services are most
in private

satisfying

Tangibles of service, Core service, and

are the most
Non-human
element

sectors.

satisfying dimensions

inVadodara

and

Bombay.
Core
Service

Service
Core
1.5:
Social
Responsibility

Fig. 1: Radar Diagram SERVPERF

(Ownership-wise)

Fig. 2:
Radar Diagram SERVPERF
(Regionwise-wise)

in all 5 dimensions
exists
Gap
between Udupi & SK and the other

of ownership and region-wise

are vital sources from which

operation
inferences

could be drawn and suggestions made to

the service quality. Accordingly,

two regions.

enhance
Hypothesis

two main

Testing

The perceptions of the customers on

service quality, and also, the difference
in perceptions with reference to the type

Table 5: Descriptive Statistics - SERVPERF

hypotheses
have been

hypotheses
research. The

and

tested

ten

sub

in this

results of hypotheses and

the t-test and ANOVA
tables are given
in tables 5-9.

(Ownership-wise)

Hypothesis
Number

Result

Hypothesis

There is a significantdifference in theperception of Rejected

"Service quality' (SERVPERF) of the Insured region-wise
There is a significant difference in thePerception of
'Service quality' (SERVPERF) of the Insured, based on
Null
'type of ownership' (Private or Public)

IJIR, Vol. 44, No.

Null Hypothesis
Rejected

Hypothesis

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56

inGeneral

Service Quality

Insurance Sector: An Empirical Study

Table 6: ANOVA SUM of SERVPERF(Region-wise)

Dimension Between
Groups
Within Groups

Sum of Squares

df

Mean Square

Sig.

12.347
1214.651
1226.998

2
3087
3089

6.174
0.393

15.690

0.000

Mean Square

Sig.

278.087

0.000

Total

Table7: ANOVA SUM of SERVPERF

Dimension Between
Groups
Within Groups

(Ownership-wise)

Sum of Squares

df

101.368
1125.631
1226.998

1
3088
3089

101.368
0.365

Total

Table 8: Sub-hypotheses Testing Result

Hypothesis
Number

in the perception
service
difference
of Core
is a significant
insurance
the
small
holders
scale
region-wise.
by
industry
policy

There

HM
H,

Result

Hypothesis

is a significant
by the small

scale

region-wise.
is a significant
element
by the small

scale

There
element
There

difference

in the perception
of Human
insurance
policy holders

industry

difference

Failed to Reject Null

Hypothesis
Failed to Reject Null
Hypothesis

in the perception
of Non
human
insurance
policy holders

Rejected
Null Hypothesis

industry

region-wise.

HM
H, 5

There is a significant difference in theperception of Tangibles

by the small

scale

industry

insurance

holders

policy

region-wise.

There is a significant difference in theperception of Social

responsibility by the small scale industryinsurance policy
holders

Rejected
Null Hypothesis
Failed to Reject Null
Hypothesis

region-wise.

H2,

There is a significant difference in theperception of Core service

by the small scale industryinsurancepolicy based on 'type of

H2 2

There is a significant difference in the perception ofHuman element Null Hypothesis

Rejected
by the small scale industryinsurance policy holders based on

H2

There is a significantdifference in the perception ofNon human

Null Hypothesis
Rejected

ownership'.

'type of ownership'.

element
Hype

H2 4
H

by the small

scale

industry

insurance

based

on

of ownership'.

There is a significant difference in the perception of Tangibles

by the small scale
Hype of ownership'.

industry

insurance

policy

holders

based

There is a significant difference in the perception ofSocial

industry
by the small scale
responsibility
on 'type of ownership'.
on based
based

57

policy

holders

insurance

policy

on

holders

Null Hypothesis
Rejected
Null Hypothesis
Rejected
Null Hypothesis
Rejected

IJIR, Vol. 44,No. 1,July2008

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations

Table 9: Dimension- wise ANOVA forTesting Sub- hypothesis
Sum

of

df

Mean

Square

Sig.

Squares
1.868

.934

242.921

615

.395

.013

242.126

615

.394

178.591

617

Between
Groups

Within

2.J65

0.95

2.572

0.77

Groups
Total
Between

avhe

2.025

Groups

Within
Groups
Total

1.438

.719

Within

211.498

615

.344

Groups
Total

212.936

617

Between
Groups

standardization

quality
the regions
and
not
is
practised
ownerships

across

Insurance

type

of

of

by the

sector.

ensure
in
is a significant difference
on
of
the
insured
based
perceptions
and
region-wise
ownership-wise
classifications
This

of

is a clear

insurance

indication

companies.
that service

quality standardization across the regions

and type of ownerships
is not practised
by the Insurance sector. The following are
the specific suggestions to standardize the
quality of service
Automation

across

sectors.

and

computerization,
wherever possible,
is the easiest way
across
to standardize
services

service

from

sequence
policy
to claim settlement have
marketing
to be made
available
and also a
to
to be generated
are
followed
that these rules

mechanism

There

rules for

of execution

Establishment
Service

124

2.091

without

has

fail. Customer

this regard

could

feedback

in

immense

be of

help.
On

a regular

Development
conducted

basis Training
programs have
to the employees

and
to be
on

topics such as: claims processing and

issues related to under
handling,
writings, marketing
assessment,

of products,

E-insurance,

risk

etc.

Zeithaml et al., (1990) emphasized

on the operating procedures
in order
to ensure task standardization.
The

Even
its cost
though
regions.
effectiveness
is questionable,
for
volume
of
it
would
customers,
large

hypothesis testing undertaken in this

the significant
research
indicated
in perception
of service
difference

surely be beneficial

quality

IJIR, Vol. 44, No.

in the long run.

across

1, July 2008

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

regions,

thus

58

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