Conference Presentations by Weedige S Sanjeewa
Proceeding of 1st Interdisciplinary Conference of Management Researchers on the theme of Innovation, Integration and Inspiration towards Sustainable Future, 2016
Financial planning is very personalized and requires greater attention in the insurance sector th... more Financial planning is very personalized and requires greater attention in the insurance sector than in any other market. The needs and wants of individuals or families differ from person to person and require human touch. Due to this among all distribution channels, the insurance agents become the first choice in insurance marketing. As the insurance marketing is highly dependent on agents’ channel, retaining the agents for a longer period is also very critical. This paper attempts to identify the key factors influencing the retention of insurance agents in Sri Lanka. A sample of 140 agents who left the company during 2014 and 2015 was used to collect data through a structured questionnaire from three leading insurance companies in Sri Lanka. The chi-square test was used to analyze the data. The findings reveal that the Recruitment & Selection, Training and Remuneration fond have a significant effect on retention of
insurance agents whereas Supervisory Leadership does not have a significant effect on retention. The findings imply that the senior management of the life insurance companies should uplift the managerial actions for enhancing the level of agents’ retention and the regulator of insurance industry in Sri Lanka to upgrade the licensing
system of insurance agents.
Keywords: Agents’ Retention; Insurance Agents; Life Insurance Industry
Papers by Weedige S Sanjeewa
Sustainability
Financial illiteracy and underinsurance have been revealed to be critical issues in the financial... more Financial illiteracy and underinsurance have been revealed to be critical issues in the financial sustainability and well-being of families. However, studies show that financial literacy does not necessarily translate to insurance literacy, and more specialized education can improve insurance literacy. Little is known about the impact of insurance illiteracy on the inclination to seek and retain insurance. Considering this gap, our study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect effect of consumers’ insurance literacy on purchasing decisions of personal insurance. The study sample consists of middle-class consumers in Sri Lanka. A total of 300 valid questionnaires were collected and analyzed using a variance-based structural equation modeling. The results revealed that insurance literacy directly, and through its mediators of trust, perceived benefits, and favorable attitudes towards insurance, impacts the behavioral intention, significantly and positively. The cognition-based tr...
Post-war era of the insurance industry in Sri Lanka has led to companies functioning increasingly... more Post-war era of the insurance industry in Sri Lanka has led to companies functioning increasingly under competitive pressures. As customers have realized that quality is something that cannot be compromised, an insurers has to survive in the competition by introducing innovative solutions while managing a high value service. Hence, companies are trying to direct their strategies towards increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty through better service quality. This study investigates customer perceptions of service quality in selected leading insurance companies in Sri Lanka. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the quality of service in selected insurers, to identify the gap between customer expectation and their perceptions on service quality and to identify the areas that need to be improved to deliver a quality service. Data were collected from 123 customers of five leading insurance companies based on convenience sampling and a structured questionnaire. The respondent...
European Journal of Business and Management
Improved financial literacy is the key to informed decisions, protected consumers, financial inde... more Improved financial literacy is the key to informed decisions, protected consumers, financial independence, and peace of mind. Foremost literature reveals that while financial literacy required more special education to improve insurance literacy, the literature of consumers' insurance literacy is quite low. Defining and appropriately measuring insurance literacy is essential to understand the educational impact as well as barriers to better utilization of insurance products. Thus, we conducted a systematic literature review using PRISMA guidelines and analyzed 37 studies focusing on the construct validation criteria. This study developed a conceptual definition with an approach for a measurement instrument to address the current limitations in establishing a standardized measure of consumers' insurance literacy. We identified six knowledge dimensions and skill dimensions to be incorporated into an instrument developed to measure the insurance literacy construct. The study contributes to both insurance and financial literacy, and provide a foundation for further research into consumers' insurance literacy.
Sustainability, 2019
Financial illiteracy and underinsurance have been revealed to be critical issues in the financial... more Financial illiteracy and underinsurance have been revealed to be critical issues in the financial sustainability and well-being of families. However, studies show that financial literacy does not necessarily translate to insurance literacy, and more specialized education can improve insurance literacy. Little is known about the impact of insurance illiteracy on the inclination to seek and retain insurance. Considering this gap, our study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect effect of consumers' insurance literacy on purchasing decisions of personal insurance. The study sample consists of middle-class consumers in Sri Lanka. A total of 300 valid questionnaires were collected and analyzed using a variance-based structural equation modeling. The results revealed that insurance literacy directly, and through its mediators of trust, perceived benefits, and favorable attitudes towards insurance, impacts the behavioral intention, significantly and positively. The cognition-based trust affected the purchase intention only through its mediators. Additionally, there is a significant difference between those who are having and not having insurance in terms of insurance literacy, trustfulness, and perceived value of insurance. This study is relatively a pioneer study, and findings will be of great interest to academicians and policymakers to encourage personal insurance as a tool in achieving financial security and well-being
European Journal of Business and Management , 2019
Improved financial literacy is the key to informed decisions, protected consumers, financial inde... more Improved financial literacy is the key to informed decisions, protected consumers, financial independence, and peace of mind. Foremost literature reveals that while financial literacy required more special education to improve insurance literacy, the literature of consumers' insurance literacy is quite low. Defining and appropriately measuring insurance literacy is essential to understand the educational impact as well as barriers to better utilization of insurance products. Thus, we conducted a systematic literature review using PRISMA guidelines and analyzed 37 studies focusing on the construct validation criteria. This study developed a conceptual definition with an approach for a measurement instrument to address the current limitations in establishing a standardized measure of consumers' insurance literacy. We identified six knowledge dimensions and skill dimensions to be incorporated into an instrument developed to measure the insurance literacy construct. The study contributes to both insurance and financial literacy, and provide a foundation for further research into consumers' insurance literacy.
International Journal of Information, Business and Management , 2019
This paper investigates the determinants of life insurance consumption in emerging insurance mark... more This paper investigates the determinants of life insurance consumption in emerging insurance markets of South Asian from 1996 to 2017. We use two measures of life insurance demand: life insurance density and life insurance penetration. The results suggest that consumption of life insurance better explained by demographic factors than financial factors in South Asia. While we find an increase in income, urbanisation, life expectancy, dependency, and private health expenditure lead to a decline in life insurance demand, education and financial development are found to impact on life insurance consumption in the region positively. Overall, households in this region are more likely to evaluate the anticipated benefits of life insurance in terms of derived benefits conditional to the income earner’s death as well as the risk of the income earner’s permanent disabilities. The findings provide policy implications for the development of life insurance markets in South Asia.
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Conference Presentations by Weedige S Sanjeewa
insurance agents whereas Supervisory Leadership does not have a significant effect on retention. The findings imply that the senior management of the life insurance companies should uplift the managerial actions for enhancing the level of agents’ retention and the regulator of insurance industry in Sri Lanka to upgrade the licensing
system of insurance agents.
Keywords: Agents’ Retention; Insurance Agents; Life Insurance Industry
Papers by Weedige S Sanjeewa
insurance agents whereas Supervisory Leadership does not have a significant effect on retention. The findings imply that the senior management of the life insurance companies should uplift the managerial actions for enhancing the level of agents’ retention and the regulator of insurance industry in Sri Lanka to upgrade the licensing
system of insurance agents.
Keywords: Agents’ Retention; Insurance Agents; Life Insurance Industry