AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON CUSTOMER ORIENTATION IN THE INSURANCE SECTOR OF SRI LANKA

Abstract

It has been observed that gaining knowledge about customer expectations and satisfaction enables insurance companies to improve customer orientation. Insurance is in the service sector where the product is to manage “risks” of the customer and its impact is of significant in the light of customer satisfaction. This study is significant to the Gross Domestic Product of Sri Lanka. Total employees in the insurance field are approximately 19,437 and according to the Morgan table the sample size was decided as to collect data from 338 respondents. The study was designed with an epistemological standpoint of positivism with a deductive approach using quantitative data collected through a questionnaire. Findings were analyzed using frequency tables, correlations, and Chi-square testing to interpret the data collected. The study found that in the insurance sector, customer orientation, job satisfaction, employee engagement and training and development are the key influential factors. Findings pointed towards strong to high moderate relationships between dependent and independent variables tested. It is recommended that customer orientation should be improved by empowering the sales staff by providing sufficient training in a timely manner while improving employee engagement using techniques