The effect of professional B2B general insurance service quality on firm's reputation and word-of-mouth
Abstract
Reputation and WOM play an integral part in retaining existing customers and
attracting new ones, especially in the context of professional B2B insurance service.
However, few prior research have examined the relationships between service quality,
organization reputation and WOM. Therefore, this study attempts to bridge the gap in
literature by exploring the influence of four service quality dimensions including
interpersonal skills, technical skills, reliability and digital technology application on
reputation and WOM. In answering research questions, a mixed method approach which
includes both qualitative and quantitative research was applied with a sample of 547
organization customers of general insurance companies in Vietnam. By using Partial Least
Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the proposed research model and
hypotheses were tested using empirical data. The result indicates that technical skills,
reliability and digital technology application positively affect organization reputation. In
addition, interpersonal skills, reliability, digital technology application and reputation have
direct and positive influences on organization WOM. The mediating role of reputation on
the relationship between three out of four dimensions of service quality such as technical
skills, reliability, digital technology application and WOM is also confirmed. Finally, the
research contributes to limited theory about reputation and WOM in context of B2B general
insurance service and provides practical implications for managers in building reputation
and generating positive WOM.
Key words: Service quality, reputation, WOM, PLS-SEM, general insurance, B2B,
interpersonal skills, technical skills, reliability, digital technology application