Publications

Abstract : People around the globe realized the importance of health insurance since uncertainty becomes the order of the day. The purpose of this empirical study is to give the customers' perceptions on the products and services of health insurance policies and the factors influencing the purchase intention or continuance of health insurance. The conceptual research framework has been developed to the purchase intention of health insurance policy and the framework is supported by stimulus-response model (SR), an important marketing theory. A cross sectional study using the primary survey method has been adopted, about 105 Malaysian citizens who are the head of the family have been selected for this study. Of this, 45 (42.9%) of the respondents were discontinued from holding Health Insurance policies over the last 2 years and the remaining have one or more policies at present. The respondents are more concerned on the reputation of the health insurance service providers. On the whole, customers are attracted on the health insurance products and services offered by the service providers. Interestingly, females are favouring more health insurance products and services than males. The professionals who earn more than RM 6000 per month extract information on health insurance policy from their colleagues and friends and derive the fullest benefits of health insurance policy. The findings of this study will help health insurance companies, particularly health insurance agents, to influence customers who have intention to purchase health insurance policy. Further, the present study provides marketing tips to health insurance service providers to design more effective programs to promote health insurance market in developing countries like Malaysia.