THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN KENYA

Abstract

Purpose: The study examined the role of social media in the insurance industry in Kenya.
 Materials and Methods: This study utilized the systematic literature review and focused on previously published academic studies and published journals discussing on social media and insurance firms in Kenya. The study utilized a sample of 12 studies selected randomly from the different academic studies and published journals available at the Google Scholar. This research method was preferred in this study since it is reliable and saves on time and resources as compared to primary data collection methods.
 Results: The review of the different studies revealed that the social media provides a variety of platforms that can help insurance firms facilitate the sale of their products, improve their customers interaction and build their brand reputation. The results of most studies also revealed that social media has a positive and significant impact on the performance and profitability of insurance companies in Kenya. Most of the reviewed studies were also found to discuss the role of social media in the insurance industry to a good extent. However, they consisted of conceptual, geographical and contextual research gaps.
 Recommendations: The study recommended that insurance companies in Kenya should invest more on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn which have large target audience and helps to improve customer engagement. Moreover, insurance firms should utilize the available features on these platforms to facilitate online sales transactions, build brand reputation and attract more customers. Policymakers should lessen the strict regulations in the insurance industry that act as barriers to efficient adoption of social media communication and marketing strategies in insurance firms. Further, this study may be relevant to the management of insurance firms by giving a better understanding on how social media can be used to improve some of the operations in these firms. The findings of this study may be helpful to the policymakers as they implement the different policies on digital marketing. Researchers and scholars will also benefit from this study since it adds to the body of knowledge on social media and insurance industry. The identified research gaps in this study will also provide guidance to the future researchers and scholars who may be interested to carry out studies related to the current topic. The study will also give a better understanding on how to use the social exchange theory on studies that surround the social behaviours or social interactions of people.