Service delivery process and purpose; Security and dynamic operations; and Credibility) did not contribute significantly towards explaining the variance in the overall rating. VIF values score from 1. 687 to 2. 468 ndicating that multicolllnearlty among Independent variables Is not a problem. . Discussion and Managerial Implications The results show that most of the items proposed under five-dimension structure as suggested by Sureshcahandar et al. (2001) are qualitatively relevant to measure life insurance service quality in the Indian context. The real problem arises in the factor structure. Page 6 Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA wwu. i]bssnet. com 224 The factor analytic results of the present study depicted a very different structure. Due to some additions and deletions in the proposed instrument, items were edefined and then relocated under seven different factors.
There Is a general perspective that service quality Is a multi-delusional or multi-attribute construct (Paranormal et al. , 1985). However, there is no general agreement as to the nature or content of the dimensions (Standardized et al. , 2007). The flee-factor structure model as proposed by Casehardened et al. (2001) has been refined to seven- factor construct (consisting of 34 items) representing Proficiency; Media and presentations; Physical and ethical excellence; Service delivery process and purpose; Security, and yeoman operations; Credibility; and Functionality. Among these factors, three veil. Proficiency; Physical and ethical excellence; and Functionality have significant Impact on the overall service quality of Life Insurance Corporation of India. The results also show that Proficiency has the highest impact and Functionality has the lowest one, while the role of Service delivery process and purpose; Media and presentations; Security and dynamic operations; and Credibility are not confirmed by the data. Overall, the results do Indicate that a meaningful pattern or a higher level of original five-dimension (Casehardened et al. 2001) of the scale is not applicable in the present study.
However, five-factor would need to be customized for each industry. Ladder (2008) has also concluded in his study that the number and nature of the dimensions varied, depending on the service context; indeed, they varied even within the same service industry. Moreover, one has to bear in mind that the notion of service quality is industry and country specific (Ford et al. , 1993; Saving, 1994; Lebanon and Unguent, 1988). Further, as per the views of Squid et al. (2010), for service quality modeling, a setoffs dimensions is required, but there seems to be no universal dimension; it needs to be modified as per the service in consideration.
Thus, five dimensions require re-examination in the context of Indian life insurance sector. Hence, it would be advisable to re-define the factors according to the results obtained under the Indian conditions. 5. 1 Managerial Implications The findings of the study show that seven factors play a vital role in influencing the perception of customers toward service quality of Life Insurance Corporation of India. Proficiency is the key factor having impact on customer”s perception towards life insurance service quality.
By improving the performance of agents and employees, Life Insurance Corporation of India can increase its customer”s satisfaction. In addition, other factors that customers are concerned at life insurance sector are Physical and ethical excellence; as well as Functionality. Existing life insurance players and new/ potential entrants to Indian life insurance market must specify the weight of each factor having impact on customer”s perception towards life insurance service quality. Based on the relevance of each of these factors, life insurance industry can propose appropriate action plans.
Moreover, life insurance players who are planning to do business in India should be attentive when studying on service quality, so that they can focus on the major dimensions and plan to meet the customers” expectations. 6. Limitations and Further Research Firstly, this study was carried out mainly in Punjab; therefore, the results obtained may not be pertinent to the country as a whole. Of course, the study can be extended to other states of India. Secondly, the present study has been conducted by taking a sample of 337 customers of Life Insurance Corporation (a public many), ignoring the private life insurance companies.
This cannot lead to the generalization of the findings and the results may not be implied conclusively to the whole life insurance industry. Additional studies are recommended to fill this gap. Thirdly, in the current study, exploratory factor analysis using principal component method with Bavaria rotation has been used. Moreover, the results of this study may further be validated by employing confirmatory factor analysis technique. Fourthly, other variables (like future purchase intension, and overall satisfaction level etc. Having impact on customer”s overall evaluation of service quality should be taken into account in future research.
Finally, these limitations may decrease the ability of generalizing the results of this study to other life insurance companies” settings. Therefore, the conceptual and methodology limitations of this study need to be considered when designing future research. 7. Conclusion The results of current study provide additional empirical evidence to evaluate the insurance sector. The original five dimensions of Surcharged teal. (2001) do not factor out in this study. This indication is somehow in consonance with other authors (Brown et al. 1993; Abacus and Boiler, 1992; Carmen, 1990) who stated that the number and composition of the service quality dimensions is probably dependent on the service setting. Page 7 International Journal of Business and Social Science Volvo. 2 NO. 18; October 2011 225 In the present study, five-factor structure model as proposed by Casehardened et al. (2001) has been refined to seven-factor construct representing Proficiency; Media and presentations; Physical and ethical excellence; Service delivery process and repose; Security and dynamic operations; Credibility; and Functionality. Among these factors, three biz. Proficiency; Physical and ethical excellence; and Functionality have significant impact on the overall service quality of Life Insurance Corporation of India. There is still a need for research into the dimensionality of service quality, bearing in mind the contextual circumstances – the specific industry and the specific service setting. In some services the five-factor structure of Surcharged et al. (2001) need considerable adaptation and items used to assure service quality should reflect the specific service setting under investigation, which may necessitate addition or deletion of some items as required.
Researchers and practitioners who apply the five factors to life insurance market in general particularly in India should re-evaluate the measurement instrument. Appendix-I Statements My Perception Level SD AS Policies/plans of LICK superior to or more attractive than the private insurance companies 1 234 567 Flexible products/ new products that meet customers” needs 1 234 56 7 Provides information/details about service innovations on a regular basis through cost, telephone, banks etc. 234567 Diversity and wide range of services (like variety of policies I. E. Children plans, Joint life plan, pension plans, special plan for women with different benefits options) 1 23 4567 Premium paid is too low as compared to the benefits derived 1 234 56 7 High rate of return on insurance products as compared to the other saving instruments (fixed deposit in banks, national saving certificates etc. ) 1 23 4 56 7 Adequate surrender value in case the policy is discontinued before maturity 1 234 Reasonable penalty charged for late premium payment
