Relationship Marketing and Customer Purchase Decision of Insurance in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

The purchasing behavior of the nation’s insuring public determines the performance of the risk management and investment functions of insurance service, and its overall contribution to the development of the economy. In Nigeria, the contribution of insurance to the nation’s GDP is extremely low at 0.4% as majority of the population live without insurance protection. The low level of customer’s patronage may be attributed to inadequate application of relationship marketing factors. This study examined the influence of relationship marketing dimensions of customer awareness, customer trust, customer service quality, product innovation and customization, and customer satisfaction on customer purchase decision of Insurance in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research design. The population of study consisted of 375,000 estimated consumers of insurance service in Lagos State, Nigeria. A sample size of 1,650 consumers were drawn from selected Local Government Areas of Lagos State through non-probability sampling technique. A questionnaire titled relationship marketing and market penetration of insurance was adapted and validated. The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for the constructs ranged between 0.76 and 0.90. A total of 1,650 copies of the questionnaire were administered, with a response rate of 80%. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential (multiple linear regression analysis) statistics. Findings revealed that relationship marketing had significant effect on customer purchase decision of Insurance (Adj. R2 = 0.420; F (5, 1306) = 190.773, p<0.05). Significant positive relationships were also found between some of the relationship marketing constructs and customer purchase decision of insurance. The study concluded that relationship marketing dimensions of customer awareness, customer trust, customer service quality, product innovation and customization, and customer satisfaction are significant predictors of customer purchase decision of insurance in Lagos State, Nigeria. Thus, to influence customer purchase decision of insurance, the adoption of relationship marketing is highly recommended. Keywords: Relationship Marketing, Customer Awareness, Customer Trust Customer Service Quality