Mobile claim management adoption in emerging insurance markets

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the adoption of a mobile insurance claim system (M-insurance) and develops a framework for the adoption of M-insurance by consumers. Design/methodology/approach – This study assesses mobile technology for claim management through the lens of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and diffusion of innovation (DOI) models as a major guideline, using exploratory research through in-depth interviews with four executive experts who are first movers in mobile claim motor insurance in Thailand. Semi-structured interviews and open-ended questions were used to conduct group interviews of insurance consumers who mostly use smartphones. The data were collected in a qualitative research approach from Thai insurance consumers (n=177), and contents were classified and analysed to gain strong insights into respondent opinions, comments, attitudes, behaviour, and experiences. Findings – The results indicate that the external (social) factors influence attitude and behaviour of consumers which link to their intention to adopt M-insurance. These external factors include: preference for face-to-face service; confidence of insurers in accepting claim; and risk of claim knowledge that might cause legal issues among others. In application, the findings shall meaningfully enhance insurer firms’ improvement of adoption rate and development of future features and functions of M-insurance. Research limitations/implications – This study is based on insurance consumers in each region of Thailand but focuses only on mobile claim management for motor insurance. Although the findings bring new insight and understanding of consumer preferences and behaviours, they were not tested statistically. Practical implications – The study has practical implications for motor insurance claimants who are concerned over the complicated policy conditions, the perspective risk of claim knowledge and fault admission, and the on-site investigation by surveyor for another party. These are the guidance impediments to overcome M-insurance adoption improvement. Originality/value – Previously, TAM and DOI approaches have been employed to study general adoption of M-banking by quantitative research which confirmed descriptive data and tested the hypothesis, but neglected crucial data. However, M-insurance is different from M-banking in term of features and functions, purpose and process of usage, and legal liability. Therefore, this study is one of a few empirical studies that attempt to identify insightful factors to consumer uptake of M-insurance which is in its early stage and lacks an underpinning TAM model. This study contributes by identifying insights of “pull” factors to successfully develop M-insurance in Thailand.

An investigation of the effect of customer beliefs on the intention to participate in family Takaful schemes

“…Semi-structured interviews (Bennett and Sung, 2013) were carried out with a sample of customers of FTSs (N = 14) to collect detailed information to better understand their behavioral, normative and control beliefs about FTSs (Gowanit et al, 2016;Drew, 2014). These interviews aimed to understand the beliefs behind the intention to purchase FTSs, develop the foundations for the quantitative phase of this study and refine the research problem (Farah, 2017;Weischedel et al, 2005).…”

Determinants of Insurance Agents Behavioural Intention to Use Mobile Technologies

“…It is evident that insurance businesses can utilise mobile technologies to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency at work. Previous research in insurance industry found several determinants that affect such technologies adoption (Liang, Huang, Yeh & Lin, 2007;Gowanit et al, 2016;Yueh, Lu & Lin, 2016); Visvanathan & Van Der Merwe, 2018). However, there are still limited studies conducted to discover determinants that initiate the usage, improve the present usage and advance a constant usage among employees and agents in the insurance industry.…”

“…Mobile technologies play vital roles in enhancing business processes across various industries, including the competitive insurance industry in which mobile technologies are utilized to improve efficiency of office employees along with its processes (Visvanathan & Van Der Merwe, 2018). Gowanit, Thawesaengskulthai, Sophatsathit and Chaiyawat (2016) promoted that insurance businesses are able to ride on mobile technologies seamlessly as most of the transactions and processes can be completed electronically; hence mobile technologies has been the most important change in the industry. This is supported by Thiangtam et al (2017) and Lu et al (2018) who expect fully electronic-based business models for the insurance industry in the near future, thereby strengthening the role of mobile technologies in insurances businesses.…”

“…Berghaus and Back (2014) identified social influence is one of the drivers of mobile business solution adoption in business organization. Gowanit, Thawesaengskulthai, Sophatsathit and Chaiyawat (2016) found external (social) issues affect attitude and behaviour in the adoption of a mobile insurance claim system. Therefore:…”

The factors that influence small and medium enterprises’ intention to adopt the government credit program

“…Davis et al (1989) tailored TAM into information system context and designed to predict information technology acceptance and usage on the job. TAM has been widely applied to a diverse set of technologies and users (Gebauer and Shaw, 2004;Cheng, 2015;Kansal, 2016;Lai, 2017;Maditinos et al, 2013;Wu and Wang, 2005;Wu, 2011;Caniëls et al, 2015;Ifinedo, 2011;Dahnil et al, 2014;Celuch et al, 2013;Hayes, 2012;Khader, 2015;Hung et al, 2014;Kaushik and Rahman, 2015;Abbasi et al, 2015;Ma et al, 2017;Gupta et al, 2016;Marakarkandy et al, 2017;Gowanit et al, 2016;Ozturk, 2016;Kim and Shin, 2015).…”