June 2025 Edition

FRONTLINE SERVICE ARCHITECTURE AND MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS OF INSURANCE FIRMS IN RIVERS STATE.

Nwadighoha, Emmanuel Ephraim PhD, Okoroafor, Chimeze PhD, Okolo, Amaka N. PhD.

Abstract

This study looked at the relationship between frontline service architecture and marketing effectiveness of insurance firms in Rivers State, Nigeria, We used cross-sectional and correlational research design and structured questionnaire to collect data from one hundred and forty retail customer of the 28 registered insurance firm providers One hundred and thirty one were retrieved. One hundred and twenty seven were found usable. The data instrument was validated using test-retest and Cronbach alpha test to show internal consistency respectively. Simple, Multi-regression and partial correlation aided by SPSS version 20.0 were used. Dimension of frontline service providers: word of mouth was significant in determining marketing effectiveness. We concluded that the predictor variable, hen effectively executed can significantly increase the level of customer satisfaction of insurance firms in Rivers State, base on this. The study recommends increased customer inter-face through the use of word of mouth by frontline services providers.

Keywords

Architecture, Frontline, Insurance, Marketing Effectiveness, Word of mouth,

Full Text

Download

References

Afinvest Research (2018). Evolution of the marketing organization: New forms for dynamic environments. Journal of Marketing55 (October), 77-93.
Akesson, J. C., Hakan, H. & Jan J. (2016). Dyadic business relationships within a business network context. Journal of Marketing, 58: 1-15
Alli, M. A, Winter, S. G & May, D. L. (2011). International Business & Economic Research (IBER), 6 (1) 89-96.
Apere, T. O. (2024). Marketing motor insurance policy and economic growth in Nigeria. EBSU Journal of Science, (1) 109 – 118.
Bethlehem, A, (2022), Meauring the effectiveness of marketing: The case of micro and small enterprises (MSEs on Gullele City) http://repository, smuc,edu.et
Berman, H. (2002). Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (3rd ed.). Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press.
Bowen, D. E. (2016). The changing role of employees in service theory and practice: An interdisciplinary view. Human Resource Management Review, 26(1), 4-13.
Brown, S. W., Cowles, D. L. & Tuten, T. L. (1996). Service recovery: Its value and limitations as a retail strategy.International Journal of Service Industry Management, 7(5), 32-46.
Cadwallader, S. Jarvis, C. Bitner. M. & Ostrom, A. (2010). Frontline employee motivation to participate in service innovation implementation.Journal of Academy of Marketing Science.38(2), 219-239.
Carlborg, P., Kindström, D. & Kowalkowski, C. (2014). The evolution of service innovation research: a critical review and synthesis. The Service Industries Journal, 34(5), 373-398.
Chan, Kimmy Wa, Chi Kin (Bennett) Yim, & Simon S.K. Lam (2010). Is customer participation in value creation a double-edged sword? Evidence from Professional Financial Services across cultures.Journal of Marketing, 74(3), 48-64.
Chebat, J. C. and Kollias, P. (2000). The impact of empowerment on customer contact employees’ roles in service organizations. Journal of Service research, 3(1), 66-81.
Fadun, O. S &Silwimba, P. (2023). Does insurance promote economic groeth? Evidence from Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Risk and Insurance, 13(1) 1-24.
Gallouj, F., & Weinstein, O. (1997).Innovation in services.Research policy, 26(4-5), 537-556.
Ghemawat, P. (2021).World 3.0: global prosperity and how to achieve it. Harvard Business Review Press, Boston
Gwinner, K. P., Bitner, M. J., Brown, S. W., & Kumar, A. (2015).Service customization through employee adaptiveness.Journal of Service Research, 8(2), 131-148.
Heung, V. C. S., &Gu, T. (2012). Influence of restaurant atmospherics on patron satisfaction and behavioral intentions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(4), 1167–1177.
Hülsheger, U. R., & Schewe, A. F. (2011). On the costs and benefits of emotional labor: A meta-analysis of three decades of research. Journal of occupational health psychology, 16(3), 361.
Karatepe, O. M., & Sokmen, A. (2006).The effects of work role and family role variables on psychological and behavioral outcomes of frontline employees.Tourism management, 27(2), 255- 268.
Karlsson, J., Skålén, P. and Sundström, E. (2014).How frontline employees nurture service innovation through co -creation with their customers”, in Fuglsang, L., Rønning, R. and Enquist, B. (Eds.), Framing innovation in public sector services, Taylor & Francis, New York, NY, 18.
Martin, D., Gustafsson, A. & Choi, S. (2016). Service innovation, renewal, and adoption/rejection in dynamic global contexts.Journal of Business Research.69(7), 2397-2400.
Melton, H. L. & Hartline, M. D. (2013). Employee collaboration, learning orientation, and new service development performance. Journal of Service Research, 16(1), 67-81.
Meuter, M. L., Ostrom, A. L., Roundtree, R. I., &Bitner, M. J. (2000). Self-service technologies: understanding customer satisfaction with technology-basedservice encounters. Journal of marketing64: 50-64.
Milichovsky, F. & Simberova I. (2015). Marketing effectiveness: Metrics for effective strategic marketing. Inzinerine Ekonomika-Engineering Economics, 26(2), 211–219.
Mulgan, G. (2011).Connexity: how to live in a connected world. Random House, London
Oladunjoye, O. N., & Tshidzumba, N. A.(2024), Technology adoption and thefinancial market performance in Nigeria and South Africa.
Rafaeli, A., Altman, D., Gremler, D. D., Huang, M. H., Grewal, D., Iyer, B., Parasuraman, A. & de Ruyter, K. (2017). The future of frontline research: Invited commentaries. Journal ofService Research, 20(1), 91-99.
Rubalcaba, L., Michel, S., Sundbo, J., Brown, S. W. and Reynoso, J. (2012). Shaping, organizing, and rethinking service innovation: A multidimensional framework. Journal of Service Management, Sundbo, J. (2010). The toilsome path of service innovation: The effects of the law of lowhuman multi-task capability. In Gallouj, F. and Djellal, F. (Eds.), The handbook of innovation andservices, London: Edward Elgar. 23(5), 696–715.
Rust, Roland T. & Ming-Hui Huang, (2009).Service productivity strategy.MSI Reports, 9 (4), 77-99.
Rustbult, C.E. & Arriaga, B.X. (1997). Interdependence theory, in Handbook of Personal Relationships, 2nd ed., Steve Duck ed. New York: 221-250. John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Subramony, M, Markus, G., Xinyu, H. & YU, W. (2021). Four decades of frontline service employee. Journal of Service Research, 5 (1) 1-19.
Scanzoni, J. (1979). Social exchange and behavioral interdependence, in social exchange in developing relationships, Robert L. Burgess and Ted L. Huston, eds. New York: 61-98. Academic Press, Inc.
Scherer, A., Wünderlich, N. & Von Wangenheim, F. (2015). The value of self-service: long-Term effects of technology-based self-service usage on customer retention. Mis Quarterly, 39 (1).177-200.
Schettkat, R., &Yocarini, L. (2003). The shift to services: a review of the literature. IZA Discussion 964.Available via SSRN.http://ssrn.com/abstract=487282. Accessed 13 Oct 2015
Shields, P. O. (2006). Customer correspondence: Corporate responses and customer reactions.Marketing Management Journal, 16(2), 155-70.
Šimberova, I., (2010) Company strategic marketing management – synergic approach and value creating. Acta univ. agric. et silvic. Mendel. Brun.,2010, LVIII, 6: 543–552. ISSN 1211-8516.
Singh, J. (2020). Performance productivity and quality of frontline employees in service organizations.Journal of marketing, 64(2), 15-34.
Skålén, P., Gummerus, J., von Koskull, C.& Magnusson, P. R. (2015b).Exploring value propositions and service innovation: a service-dominant logic study.Journal of the Academy ofMarketing Science, 43(2), 137-158.
Solcansky, M. & Simberiova, I. (2010) Measurement of marketing e? ectiveness. In: Ekonomika ir vadyba, 15: 755–759.
Sureshchandar G.S., Rajendran C, & Anantharaman R.N. (2002).The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction – a factor specific approach.Journal of Services Marketing, 16(4), 363 – 379.
Tombs, A. & McColl-Kennedy, J. R. (2003). Social-servicescape conceptual model, Marketing Theory, 3, 4, 447–475
Tomek, G., Vavrova, V., (2007).Marketing od myšlenky k realizaci. 1. vyd. Praha: Kamil Ma?ik-Professional Publishing, 308 s. ISBN 978-80-86946-45-0.
Weatherly, K. A., & Tansik, D. A. (1993). Tactics used by customer-contact workers: Effects of role stress, boundary spanning and control. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 4(3), 4-17.
Williams, C., & Buswell, J. (2003).Service quality in leisure and tourism. Oxfordshire, UK: CABI.



?