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To insure or not to insure—the role that government and insurance practice should play: a thematic comparison of the urban poor and the workers in the pensions and insurance industry

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  • Chimuka Leo Haamukwanza

    (Mukuba Pension Trust)

Abstract

The insurance uptake in Zambia remains low. Research on the Insurance Purchase Decisions (IPD) has followed a quantitative orientation and showed varying results from one jurisdiction to another. This research sought to understand the role that government and insurance practice and management should play in increasing insurance consumption in Zambia through a thematic comparison of the perceptions of the Workers in the Pensions and Insurance Industry (WPII) and the Urban Poor (UP). This study was part of a larger mixed methods sequential explanatory study aimed at understanding the determinants of the insurance purchase decision-making in Zambia: particularly comparing how the WPII and the UP make their insurance purchase decisions. Data were collected through in-depth, semi structured interviews which lasted an average of 15–23 min. Thematic analysis (TA) was used in analysing the data to understand the role the government and insurance practice and management should play to enhance insurance consumption in Zambia. Three themes emerged as being the ones that government and insurance practice and management should undertake to promote insurance consumption: Financial literacy, service quality and regulation of the insurance industry. The research has highlighted that addressing these three components would have a positive effect on the consumption of insurance. The research has also highlighted that: (1) Insurance messages should be made simple enough for the population to understand. This will allow for accurate decision-making and the possible increases in financial literacy would have a positive impact towards insurance uptake; (2) There is need for the government to introduce incentives for insurance operators that set up operations in the rural areas; and (3) some insurance products should be subsidised so as to increase insurance consumption. Policy implications relate to the need to increase insurance consumption through addressing three key thematic areas: financial literacy, service quality and causing changes in the regulatory framework. This study deviated from the traditional quantitative analysis in insurance studies through using a qualitative orientation and thematic analysis, to compare the perceptions of two different populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Chimuka Leo Haamukwanza, 2021. "To insure or not to insure—the role that government and insurance practice should play: a thematic comparison of the urban poor and the workers in the pensions and insurance industry," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(9), pages 1-20, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:snbeco:v:1:y:2021:i:9:d:10.1007_s43546-021-00121-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s43546-021-00121-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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