ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF CORPORATE REPUTATION FROM A CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE IN TAKAFUL (ISLAMIC INSURANCE) INDUSTRY

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Abstract

The Takaful (Islamic Insurance) industry is still in infancy in the UAE. Almost eighty percent of the insurance industry is conventional, and the remaining is Takaful. A firm’s reputation is one of its most important intangibles resources, and it is a major source of competitive advantage and to improve financial performance. Many of the customers choosing their service provider consider reputation criteria among other factors. It is worth determining the antecedents and consequences of corporate reputation in the Takaful industry so that marketers can improve the reputation of their service providers and their industry by using various strategies to increase the loyalty and word of mouth among Takaful customers. The sample size is 325, and data was gathered from Takaful customers who have car Takaful policies. Scale and items for each construct were initially gathered from existing literature and then refined with the help of academic and industry experts. The measurement instrument used was analysed for reliability, convergent, and discriminant validity by means of confirmatory factor analysis. The research hypotheses were tested by using structural equation modelling. Corporate social responsibility (CSR), customer satisfaction, trust, and social media engagement proved to be most important antecedents of Takaful service providers. The findings suggest that Takaful marketers should consider in investing in effective reputation strategies to gain loyalty and perceived customer value. The study provides valuable insights into the antecedents and consequences of corporate reputation in the Takaful industry. Since this study focuses only on Takaful industry and was cross-sectional, further studies need to be done. This study found that corporate reputation is influenced by national culture, and it suggests effective strategies to improve the reputation of Takaful service providers compare to their counterparts in conventional insurance.

Keywords: Takaful, Corporate Reputation, Antecedents, Reputation Strategies

JEL Classification: M31

Received: 07.01.2018

Accepted: 28.03.2018

Published online: 30.03.2018

How to cite this paper: Bhatti, T. (2018). Antecedents and consequences of corporate reputation from a customer perspective in Takaful (Islamic insurance) industry. Corporate Ownership & Control, 15(3), 101-113. https://doi.org/10.22495/cocv15i3art9