Abstract
PurposeAlthough 76% of the population of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is Muslim,takāful(Islamic insurance) has a much smaller share of business in the UAE than conventional insurance does. The purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of brand equity (BE), which is known as the incremental value that provides reason to buy a brand. This study provides useful insights that can help the healthtakāfulindustry to gain a feasible market share in the UAE.Design/methodology/approachThis is a quantitative study in which stratified random sampling was adopted for data collection from 300 respondents through a self-administered questionnaire from August to November 2018. Underpinning the study is the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique has been used to examine the impact of BE on purchase intentions (PI) through the moderating role of demographic factors such as age, income, education and religion. Three dimensions of BE, i.e. brand awareness (BAW), brand association (BAS) and perceived quality (PQ), are evaluated in terms of their significance as dimensions of BE.FindingsThe major findings of this study confirm that BE has a strong positive influence on the PIs of healthtakāfulcustomers in the UAE and that all three dimensions of BE make significant contributions to the overall BE. The results show that education does moderate the relationship between BE and PI while age, income and religion do not. A new finding of this study is the nonsignificant moderating role of religion, whereby it was found thattakāfulproducts in the UAE are not limited to Muslim customers but can include potential customers who are followers of other religions.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first of its kind to examine the impact of BE on the PI of healthtakāfulcustomers in the UAE. The findings of the study give academia, researchers and marketers a better understanding of the importance of BE and of its vital role in promotingtakāfulproducts in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries such as the UAE.
Highlights
Takaful (Islamic insurance) is the Islamic alternative to conventional insurance, being in line with the principles of Sharīah (Islamic law)
This study focuses on those dimensions that influence purchase intentions (PI) of customers, three dimensions of brand equity (BE) are included in this study, notably brand awareness (BAW), brand association (BAS) and perceived quality (PQ)
Results of analyses show that H1 is supported, which means that BE has a strong positive influence on PI of health takaful customers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Summary
Takaful (Islamic insurance) is the Islamic alternative to conventional insurance, being in line with the principles of Sharīah (Islamic law). Takaful is based on the principles of solidarity, brotherhood and mutual assistance (Billah, 1998). Takaful contract means that the rules of interest and uncertainty that apply to exchange contracts do not apply to it Ayub (2007). Between 2011 and 2018, the global takaful industry witnessed compound average growth of 8.5%, having reached US$27.07bn in 2018 (IFSB, 2020). This growth was mainly contributed by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, with an average contribution of. Among GCC nations, Bahrain and Oman demonstrated double-digit year-on-year business growth of 22% and 13%, respectively, while the UAE could not manage to achieve the threshold of 10% in 2018 (IFSB, 2020)
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