Examining the Effective Factors on Customer Confusion in Life Insurance Services Using Mixed Method

One of the most important and vital issues in consumer shopping behavior is the issue of confusion, which under the influence of various factors can ultimately affect his/her decision. Today's consumer is in a very complex environment with many choices for products and product changes as well as brands, stores and channels. In the face of these complexities, consumers are limited by their cognitive and emotional skills. Given the limiting nature of these skills, it is not surprising that consumers do not always have a complete understanding of product information and are therefore confused. Due to the unique nature of services, it is not surprising that consumers are confused about services and this confusion has detrimental effects on the service industry market and their growth. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze the factors affecting customer confusion in life insurance services using mixed method approach.

The statistical population in this study includes 22 knowledgeable experts in the field of insurance industry and marketing. They were interviewed using semi-structured interviews through purposive and snowball sampling methods. The interviews were continued until achieving theoretical saturation. Qualitative data from interviews provide a better and comprehensive understanding of the factors affecting customer confusion in life insurance. Theme analysis method was used to ensure the validity and reliability of data through Lincoln and Guba’ four criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Holst formula was calculated to measure the reliability of the agreement between the two coders of the interviews. It was 0.86, which shows an agreement between the researcher and the second coder. A fuzzy Delphi questionnaire was used to collect data in two phases of the survey in the quantitative part of the study. Its validity and reliability were confirmed by content validity and retest, and the fuzzy variables identified in the qualitative part were prioritized using the fuzzy Delphi technique.

The analysis process started with familiarity with the data. In the second stage, individual interviews were reviewed and codes related to the research topic were extracted and 925 initial codes were received from 22 interviews. In the third stage, unrelated, incomplete and duplicate codes were removed and finally 159 codes were obtained. In the fourth stage, by reviewing the themes, the researchers achieved 38 sub-themes. In the fifth stage, 10 main themes were extracted analyzing the sub-themes. In the sixth stage, the researchers finished the work with final analysis and report writing. The main themes derived from the qualitative part of the study are: lack of public awareness, sales forces, marketing strategies, financial poverty, government laws, management structure of insurance companies, structural factors, cultural-economic status, personality traits and educational system of the insurance companies. These factors were identified and prioritized as the most important factors affecting customer confusion in the life insurance industry.

Due to the nature of services, the existence of customer confusion is obvious. Customers are confused due to many factors in buying life insurance. This confusion has destructive effects on the life insurance market in the industry. The lack of public awareness and sales forces are the most important factors affecting customer confusion. Thus, it is suggested that insurance industry managers give more weight to these factors. Other factors affecting confusion should also be considered as important. A new perspective can be created by focusing on those factors that cause confusion in the customer. Appropriate relationship with customers should be developed and the challenges in the relationship with customers should be managed. These results can be a stimulus for the growth and development of the business environment in the life insurance industry and provide an effective solution for those in charge to manage customer confusion in the country's life insurance industry.