An empirical analysis of risk perception, remedial measures and behaviour of people in Saudi Arabia towards insurance

Abstract

The present study investigates the perception of individuals towards various kinds of risks and measures they prefer in Saudi Arabia. The study further investigates how the use of insurance specially the compulsory insurance has affected the perception towards risks and their future behaviour towards buying other insurance policies and also what features the users of insurance prefer in their insurance policy contract. The study is based on primary data collected randomly from current users of compulsory insurance policies that is, motor insurance and health insurance. The data has been collected from 700 users of insurance through structured questionnaires. The questionnaires originally developed in English were translated into Arabic for better and positive response from the respondents. The results of the study show that the people of Saudi Arabia give due importance to various kinds of risks and adopt preventive measures as well. The most preferred destination of investment is real estate followed by insurance. The results show that the use of insurance made a positive impact on the users’ perception towards insurance, and future insurance purchase behaviour. The managers and policy makers should do efforts in convincing the people that insurance in Saudi Arabia is working in compliance with Sharia’h. Key words: Insurance, risks, perception, Saudi Arabia, Sharia’h.