Investigating the measurement of consumers’ electronic word-of-mouth (E-WOM), intrinsic and extrinsic motives, and satisfaction of Islamic insurance (Takaful)

Abstract

The Islamic Insurance (Takaful) industry has been established in Malaysia since the 80s yet people, even Muslims, prefer to choose conventional insurance which has caused the growth of the Takaful industry to be lower than conventional insurance. The reason being that consumers receive minimal electronic word-of-mouth (E-WOM) information in regard to Takaful. Hence, the aim of this research is to investigate the measurement of consumers’ E-WOM, intrinsic and extrinsic motives, and satisfac-tion of Takaful. Data derived from online survey was analysed using descriptive statistics and explora-tory factor analysis (EFA) via the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The EFA was executed using principal component analysis to assess the essential factor items of the data. Statement “I write comments on customer reviews about Takaful because of incentives I receive (e.g. cyber money” had the highest factor loading, inferring the most important item rated among respondents. This is fol-lowed by the statement “I write comments on customer reviews about Takaful because I can get dis-count coupons/rebates on my monthly savings in Takaful”, and the statement “I write comments on customer reviews about Takaful because I receive a reward for my writing”. These statements were derived from extrinsic motives factor. This study adds to the extant literature on E-WOM and Islamic consumer behaviour by developing vigorous measures. Results transport a vibrant viewpoint for com-panies to identify elements of consumers’ E-WOM, intrinsic and extrinsic motives, and satisfaction re-lated to Takaful. The implications of study and the directions for future research are also explained.