Justification and significance - Free Essay Example

Introduction In the first chapter of this research study, an introduction on insurance will be presented. While, on the other hand, there will be a highlight on the differences between conventional and Islamic insurance. Following this, will be the problem discussion and the objectives of this study. Finally, there will be the justification and significance, following by organization of the study. What Exactly Is Insurance Means Buying insurance has become a trend in this twentieth century. According to The Star daily(2007), in the first half of year 2007, the combined premium income for insurance industry increase 9.8 percent compared to the same period for year 2006. The industry is further expanded in line with the favorable economics performance. People bought the insurance for their car, family, and business. People spend a lot of money on paying the insurance premium annually. While, do they actually clear on what kind of plan they had bought and what had they insured for their life, property and so on? Do they really distinct on the concept of the insurance that they had disbursed so much? According to Bank Negara Malaysia, insurance is the transfer of risk by an individual, such as yourself or an organization, such as your business to an insurance company. You or your organization will then be known as policy holder or insured while the insurance company is the insurer. The insurance company receives the payment in the form of premium. Then the insurance company utilized the premium collect from their policy holder to make some investment for their company. They will compensate their policy holder in the event of losses or damages which is sustained by the premium paid. In other word, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss by paying an amount of premium. It is an effective risk transfer mechanism for insured to exchange their uncertainty financial loss with the certain amount of premium (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). This kind of insurance we titled as conventional insurance which is the ordinary type of insurance that accepted by the society in general. While, other than the conventional insurance which we normally approached to, there are another type of insurance which we called as Islamic insurance. The Islamic insurance was step into Malaysia insurance market since November of year 1984 (Renat Bekkin, 2008). The first Islamic insurance company established in Malaysia was Takaful Malaysia Berhad. Early than that, Islamic insurance has stepping into the market of Sudan and Arab. What is Islamic insurance Islamic insurance is a mode of financial management which compliance to Shariah law. Islamic insurance is provided under a principle called Takaful. According to Islamic Banking, the term Takaful is derived from the Arabic word Kafaala meaning guaranteeing. Takaful means guaranteeing each other and refer to the concept of permissible Islamic insurance or Halal insurance. While by referring to Takaful Act 1984, Article 2, Takaful means a scheme based on brotherhood, solidarity and mutual assistance which provides for mutual financial aid and assistance to the participants in case of need whereby the participants mutually agree to contribute for that purpose. Literally, Takaful defines responsibility, shared guarantee, collective assurance and mutual undertakings. (Masum Billah, 2007) Some Muslims believe insurance is unnecessary, as society should helps its victims. Muslims can no longer ignore the fact that they live, they trade and communicate with open global systems, and they can no longer ignore the need for banking and insurance (Dr Aly Khorshid, 2004). In the eyes of Muslims, the concepts used by conventional insurance are against the law of Shariah. This is because conventional insurance is based on a contract of exchange (sale) between the insurance company and the covered person. This contract is void because it has the elements which are not permissible from Shariahs perspective. The elements are Gharar which means uncertainty. Conventional insurance has an element of Gharar due to the promise to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of unsuspected events. The other elements are Maysir which refer to gambling. Existence of Gharar (uncertainties) leads to Maysir (gambling) in conventional insurance. The insured may either lose the entire premium he has paid or be compensated for the losses he incurs for the insured event. Riba was also one of the not permissible elements in the law of Shariah. Riba means interest. The investment of insurance funds in interest bearing securities such bonds and stocks, which do not comply with the Shariah principles, pose a major Muslims who purchase the conventional insurance (Alburn Mountain, 2008). In conventional insurance, vendors, the insurance company, sells their insurance plans to their clients, which we called as policy holder in the other way and invest the premium paid for the profit of its shareholder. Then, the policy holders do enjoy the risk transference that they are receiving the compensation if they face the financial loss on the events they insured. According to Islamic Banking, Takaful was grant as Islamic insurance because of the apparent similarity between the contract of kafaala and insurance. Takaful is an Islamic concept which grounded in Islamic Mualamat which define as banking transaction (SP Media, 2009). This concept already practices in diverse form over 1400 years long (Salam, 2008). Generally, Takaful is an insurance plan which based on Shariah principles. The members are to contribute a certain amount of money to a common pool which is Takaful fund in the form of participative contribution that also called as Tabarru. Tabarru means a donation, charity or gift which cannot be taken back (Dr Qaradawi, 2002). In general Takaful, a percentage of the participants contribution is considered as Tabarru, thus it cannot be taken back by the participants as it is the joint guarantee principle to help other participants. A portion of a participants contribution will be allocate through Tabarru principle to help participants from a sudden but defined risks. After contributing the money into Takaful mutual fund, they will undertake a contract which called as Aqad in Islam, to become one of the participants by agreeing to mutually help each other, should any of the participants suffer a defined loss (Arshad Shaikh, 2007). In Islamic insurance, participants (policyholders) are co-operating among themselves for their common goods. Every participants are to pay a part of the contribution (premium) as a donation to help those need assistance. Other than that, in Takaful system, losses are divided and liabilities spread according to the community pooling system. In order to eliminate the element of uncertainty in Takaful contract, the concept of Tabarru is incorporated. This is to enable the participant to fulfill his obligation of mutual help and joint guarantee should any of his fellow participants suffer a defined loss. In conventional insurance, policy holder can buy more than one policy or plan to hedge the particular risk in the event of loss or damage. By this, the policy holders are lessening the claims of the insurance company because the same amount of compensation has now burden by two companies. This is called reinsurance which an insurance company can transfer to another insurer, the reinsurer all or part of its liabilities in respect of claims arising under the contracts of insurance. This is to protect itself against the risk that its total claims costs in any year may wiping out of its profits and cause it to insolvent. As same in Islamic insurance, participants can buy more than one plan from other licensed Takaful operator. This is called as Retakaful in Islamic insurance (Bahrain, 2005). Why Takaful Insurance instead of Conventional Insurance In Islamic view, the concept used in conventional insurance is in conflict with the injunction of Islam (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). The conflicts were not against the concepts used by conventional insurance that trades and contracts were appeared in the concept. While the struggling are the weaknesses and the imperfect phrase which existed in the insurance contract. The objections are actually against the phrase of Gharar which means uncertainty, Maisir refers to gambling and the word Riba which point to the interest. The criticism was the word of Gharar is happened in the contract of insurance. Other than that, the phrase of gambling is presenting in its extreme form. Whats more is the element of interest is existed in the contract. These three phrases were the points appeared in the contract of conventional insurance that prohibited in Islamic view. Thus, they lead to the contradiction between conventional insurance and Islamic view (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). While, there are the person who does not agree the above matters. According to Dr Yusof al-Qaradawi (2002), he does not think that the concept used in conventional insurance is conflict with Islamic law, but he agrees that the conventional insurance is in need of some improvement to move in line with Islamic teachings. Problem Statement People are following the track of buying insurance nowadays. People buy insurance when there is a new born baby. They buy insurance during their travelling. Insurance also bought when people purchase a residential property. People also buy insurance for the sake of retiring. People buy insurance whenever they think there was an unseen risk hidden, but do they really know what is about insurance and what type of insurance is available in the market? Throughout a number of searching by using the Google search engine and the library in campus, which was found that there are the surveys doing on Islamic Banking which may mentioned in various perspectives for instances the growth of Islamic banking in the world. Like what mentioning by Radio Australia, Islamic banking was one of the fastest growing sectors in the finance world which reveals by the value of the industry which worth of USD 1 Trillion in the year 2008. An addition, according to the bankers Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution survey, assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009). Other than that, what was found is there are quite a number of researches which study on the topic related to insurance. There are talked about the insurance expansion in the industry, growth of the insurance industry, the rate of market penetration. According to KCLAU (2007), the market penetration of life insurance as measured in terms of the total number of policies in force to total population, grew to 39.3 percent as at end of June 2007. While, besides the conventional which is generally accepted by the society, there are another type of risk transfer mechanism which is Islamic insurance was emerged in the other part of the globe. Islamic insurance was first widely spread over the Islamic country like Sudan, Arabic, India, South East Asia, and some other place in the world. The Islamic insurance also practiced in the region which is non Islamic country like European country and United of State. Since the growing of Islamic insurance throughout the world is in such a fast track, while, the doubt appeared was, it was hard to find the study on Islamic insurance rather than the conventional insurance. Another doubt was appeared that what is the reason to separate insurance into Islamic and conventional? What is the different perspective between Islamic insurance and conventional insurance? While, the most is, do people aware of the existence of Islamic insurance in the insurance industry which they approached ordinarily? Following by this, is the discussion on conventional and Islamic insurance. Research Objectives The general objective of this study is to clarify the different perspectives between conventional and Islamic insurance. While the other specific objectives as stated below which I am to study in this research. The specific objectives: To investigate the different perception of Muslim and Non Muslim towards conventional and Islamic insurance To investigate the determinants of demand for insurance in Malaysians To determine the level of awareness on Islamic insurance in the region of Malaysia Significance of Study This study may help the Malaysian Islamic Finance market to move a step up due to the hike up of the level of awareness on the conventional and Islamic insurance. Other than that, the study also provides the Muslim and Non Muslim within Malaysia to walk out of the religious teachings and some other factors in order to know more about the issues of insurance. Therefrom, Malaysias Islamic finance market may improve follow by the fast track in other country like what happened to the Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution, that assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009). Other than impacts on the country income and economic condition, this study also might helpful to the family or person who thinks of purchase insurance. By gone through this study, they are able to better analyze the product available in the market whether from the conventional insurance company or the Takaful operator which offer the Shariah compliance products and services. Then they are able to choose the best product which suit to them in terms of their needs, budget and also the religious teachings. Other than this, the study also may help the insurance company or the operators to determine the consumers intention of buying on their product. They may use the useful information to improve their products in order to enhance or even develop a better market position for their company. The growing in the insurance market plays an important role in the economic growth of the country. The growing may bring the country to a higher position in the world financial sector. Thus, Malaysia will stand still on the top of the world in the financial sector which playing the role of developing the conventional and Islamic insurance to the various country on the globe. Organization of Study This research report comprises of five chapters. The first chapter serves the introduction on insurance. It consists of the detail for conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. Problem statement and research objective is also discussed. Following the significance of study is presented. Lastly, the chapter one will end by the organization of study which show the flow out of the whole research project. Basically, chapter two will present the literature review which forms the foundation of this study. It consists of the related empirical study which done by other researchers previously. There are few factors which impact on the demand of insurance and influential to customers perception are included in this chapter. In chapter three, the research methodology of the study will be discussed. The research framework will be shown together with the hypothesis developed link together the variables in the study. Other than that, the sample planning, sources of data and data collection will also be carried out. Questionnaire design will also be laid out in this chapter following by the data analysis method which is the last part of this chapter. Following by this is chapter four which describe the results and discussion. Hence, the graph and table will be widely used to better interpret the findings and result of the study. Finally, chapter five will be the conclusion and the recommendation of this research. The level of awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will finally be presented and end this study. Chapter Two Literature Review INTRODUCTION Continue with the first chapter presented previously, this study is to observe the perception of Malaysia towards conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. For the sake of gaining a clearer view on this, exploring to the related literature is a must. Following, the overview of insurance and takaful will be presented. In 2.2, the discussion about the determinants impact on demand for insurance will be presented. Then, the study will indicate the perception of consumers towards conventional and Islamic methods of finance in few factors like the service quality, accessibility, convenience and status of the organizations. Lastly in 2.4, the awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will be discussed. Overview of Insurance and Islamic Insurance Insurance is a form of risk-management which transfer the possible risks like accident, theft, natural disaster and illness of ones or a group to the more financially sound entity, insurers in exchange with a small amount of payment which we called as premium. The meaning of insurance is essentially to understand for everybody who is considering of purchase an insurance policy or to understand the basics of what if finance. This instrument is used in hedging risk precautionary against the future contingent losses (Stanley St Labs, n.d). While, according to Insurance Info, insurance is being categorized two main categories which are life insurance and general insurance. The risks that covered by life insurance including premature death, income during retirement and illness. While the main products in life insurance are Whole life, Endowment, Term, Investment-linked, Life annuity plan, Medical and health. For general insurance, it is basically a policy that protects you from losses and damages which other than those covered by life insurance, for instance, property loss like stolen car and burnt house. Other than that, liability arising from damage caused by oneself to a third party, accidental death or injury also covered by the general insurance. The products offered under general insurance are Motor insurance, Fire/House owner/Householder insurance, Personal accident insurance, Medical and health insurance and Travel insurance. While for Islamic insurance, takaful, is a protection plan based on Shariah principles compliance. By contributing a sum of money to a common takaful fund in the form of participative contribution (tabarru), the person is undertaking a contract (aqad) to become one of the participants which agree to mutually help each other if any of the participants suffer a defined loss. Both takaul and insurance have similar basic principles where the insured must have a legitimate financial interest in the risk you are insuring, which means the insured must suffer a financial loss when the insured event occurred. In takaful, the life insurance is granted as family takaful. The products offered under family takaful are Family Takaful, Investment linked takaful, Child education takaful, Medical and health takaful. While for general takaful, there are Home takaful, Motor takaful and Personal accidents takaful. Perception towards Conventional and Islamic Insurance Perception, as defined by Stephen P. Robbins (2005) is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. Perception is important in decision making process. An individual must fully understand the decision must make along with all of the facts and information involved. If an individual has a bad perception of the situation and do not consider all of the facts that are involved like the external factors which anyone else have no control over the individual may lead to a wrong decision. In turn, this will cause negative consequences for the organization and the individual. In order to have a good perception on any given situation, an individual must analyze all of the significant information involved in a timely manner, without making a hasty decision (Wally Sparks, 2007). Service Quality According to Shahril Bin Shafie (2003), quality is sought by all organizations, especially in the service sector. Service quality is commonly noted as a critical prerequisite for establishing and sustaining satisfying relationships between organization and the customers (Lassar et al., 2000). According to Yap, S.F., and Kew, M.L., there are many researchers who have defined service quality in different ways. Among them, Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994) define service quality as the consumers overall impression of the relative inferiority or superiority of the organization and its services. While, other researchers like Cronin and Taylor (1994), view service quality as a form of attitude representing a long run overall evaluation. Service quality has determining the repeated purchase and customer loyalty to an organization. When a customer choose a provider that provides service quality that meets or exceeds his or her expectations, then the customer is more likely to choose the same pro vider again. According to Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. By referring to a study conduct by Erdener Kaynak and Talha D. Harcar (2005) is found that, the service quality provide by conventional banking system is excellent than the others. The study indicated that the customer maintain a higher level of confidence in conventional bank rather than Islamic bank. In this study, the service being tested including the swiftness in correcting errors, fast and efficient service, and consumer complains handling and the courtesy personnel. While according to Hendrik, L., Hirun, A., Razli, C.R., Halim, M.L., Khairul, A. A., and Darwina, A.A. (n.d), indicate that customer satisfaction on Islamic banking products and services is different across the cities. The service quality is satisfied within Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Penang because these cities are bigger which also contains more populations, and are more economically developed. Due to these reasons, the service provided is more satisfactory because of the customers characteristics which different from income level, gender and also educational level.Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. The emergence of the Internet provides an opportunity for organizations to conduct business in cyberspace. Steven et al (2002), Soliman (2003), Wirtz (2001), Coltman (2001) had studied that Internet adoption and factors influencing the propensity and pattern of adoption among different sectors and sizes of organizations worldwide and in Malaysia, empirical data on online insurance has been limited (Fatimah et al, 2000; Yusserie at el, 2002). One of the reasons may be because the insurance industry has been slow to respond to the usage of Internet for business,, as compared to the other financial service (Esters, 1997). In 1999, recognizing the potential of the Internet, Bank Negara Malaysia allowed a group of insurers to establish the industry first interactive insurance website, which enabled policy owners to transact on the line for renewal of policy and also premium payment(BNM 2000). Internet via individual companys website allows customers to gain more information about the product and services offered by the companies (Ruquet, 2001). While, not all the business organizations are adopting Internet in their business due to various reasons like customer readiness, cost and the risks involved. Zinkewicz (2000) said that business do not use the Internet for business because customers do not trust the process involved, instead, they prefer human interactions (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Accessibility Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product or service is accessible by as many people as possible. It also viewed as the ability to access the functionality and possible benefits of some system or entity like information of the particular products and services (Wikipedia, 2009). In Malaysia, there are total up 1,752 numbers of registered insurance agencies distributed throughout the thirteen states and two federal territories. Among of all, there are agencies which offer both life insurance and also general insurance business like American International Assurance Bhd, Etiqa Insurance Berhad, Hong Leong Assurance Berhad and so on (BNM, 2008). Other than that, there are only eight licensed Takaful operator in Malaysia which are CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad, Etiqa Takaful Berhad, Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful Berhad, HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, MAA Takaful Berhad, Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad,Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad and also Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd (BNM, 2008). Convenience Convenience is composed of number factors including the availability of parking space, location of branches, long operation hours. (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Customers will always prefer the products and services are available near to their working place or house area for the convenience of visiting. The sufficient parking space and long operation hours is for the convenience when visiting to the branch. Internet adoption is a type of convenience which offered by the insurance companies to their consumers, where consumers can get the products and services information through the website (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Other than that, interior comfort and external design also included affect the consumers perception on the convenience of selecting financial products. Status Status of an organization show measured through the strength of financial position, reputation and also the risk. As Islamic finance continue to expand. Islamic principles strong emphasis on the economic, ethical, moral and social dimensions, to enhance equality and fairness for the good of society as a whole should also have appeal for the ethnically minded (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Study which conducted by Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki (2009) also revealed that banks name and reputation is a strong effect on selecting a bank. In order to penetrate the youth market, Takaful Malaysia announced on 11th November, that RM 15 million has been pumped into the companys rebranding exercise. After twenty-five years of leading in Islamic insurance company in the country, Takaful Malaysia is setting on conquering the insurance industry by transforming itself into a more youthful outfit. Reflective of its tagline of modern, young and energetic, the company will unveils its new fresh-looking logo, a color fusion of apple green and olive green, described by Takaful Malaysia group director Datuk Hassan Kamil as vibrant and energetic. Takaful Malaysia believes that its latest approach will enhance its image and make it more appealing to the younger age-group which Hassan deems as a highly potential market segment (Joseph Kaos JR, 2009). Others Other than the above criteria, according to a study conducted in Jordan indicated that profit motivated criteria was an important factor to choose a bank service. However, other findings are that peer group influence plays an important role in selecting Islamic banks as depository institution. Other than that, politeness and friendliness of the personnel will also impact on the customers perception towards the financial institutions (Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki, 2009). Determinants of demand for insurance Insurance has become an important part of a financial sector over the past forty years. It provides a range of investments product for consumers. It also becomes the major source of investment in the capital market. Yet, the reasons for consumption of insurance are various across the countries. Demographic factors were amongst (Thorsten Beck, 2003; Ian Webb, 2003, Yvette Reisinger, 2009). While according to the study conducted by Truett et al. (1990), the consumption of insurance is depend on the price of insurance, income level of individual, and also the demographic factors such as age of individual insured and also the educational level. Gender The majority women of American have health insurance through either employer or through a public program. There are 66.67 percents of all women aged from 18 to 64 owned insurance through their employer, while another 16 percents through public program in year 2007. In contrast, there is 7 percents of nonelderly women in year 2007 purchase health coverage directly from insurance companies which we known as the individual market. Yet, the National Womens Law Centre (NWLC) investigated two phenomena, the gender gap which refers to the difference in premium charged to female and male applicants of the same age and health status. Another phenomenon is the availability and affordability of coverage for maternity care across the country. Based on the research, NWLC (2008) found that the individual market is a place which is very hard for women to purchase the health coverage. This is because insurance companies can refuse to sell women coverage due to the historic data that women have a higher percentage compared to men in suffering from a chronic condition which requiring ongoing treatment for instances asthma or arthritis. In addition, if the insurers discovered that an applicant underwent a Caesarean Section (C-Section) during the medical underwriting process, the company may charge a higher premium, or impose an exclusionary period which it refuses to cover another C-Section or pregnancy. New reports also revealed that women are more likely than men in taking prescription medication on a regular basis. In these conditions, the insurance company may reject the applications. On the other hand, it is difficult and costly for women to find health insurance that cover maternity care. A limited number of insurers offered this in separately for an additional fees which known as rider. Yet, this supplemental coverage is often far higher than ordinary plan. So typically, women have no other choice to select more or less comprehensive rider policy (NWLC, 2008). Educational Level According to Tienyu Hwang (2003) and Simon Gao (2003), the level of education plays a very important role in affecting the demand of insurance. It has been shown that the increasing of the educated population in a country, the recognition of the availability of insurance products will also be increased. Thus, the demand for insurance will also be growing in the country. Despite the education level in China is relatively low (Truett and monitor, 1996; World Bank, 1998), the increase in the education level will lead to a large number of people being realizing and able to recognize the essentiality of insurance. Therefore, it is likely to create a demand to purchase insurance. On the other hand, although the level of education in China remains low, china has made a great progress in improving the education system since the economic reform. This has increase the education level which leads to a greater awareness and understanding on the role of insurance. Hence, the level of education and demand for insurance is positively correlated. However, Szpiro and Outreville (198) proved that higher education leads to lower risk aversion, and that, in turn, leads to more risk taking by skilled and well educated people. While according to Dusuki and Abdullah (2007), they found that older, relatively well-educated individual will prefer Islamic products and services. Income Level The ability to pay insurance premium has been argued to be related to the level of income (Beenstock, Dickson, Khajuria, 1986; Browne and Kim, 1993; Outreville, 1996). While, in 1998, Beenstock et al. has found out that there is a positive relationship between national income and insurance consumption. The increase in the level of income associated with the economic development has generally led to the growing demand for economic security for individual and household. Whenever there is an increase in the income levels, there will be follow a need for financial instruments to absorb individual surplus fund and to enable them to accumulate wealth. Prior research found that the level of income is positively and significantly related to the consumption of insurance (Browne and Kim, 1993; Outreville, 1996) the increase in the level of income provide the opportunities for insurance purchase because people tend to maintain their existing living standard. They also wish to generate greater wealth for a better future life. While according to the study conducted by Dusuki and Abdullah (2007), they found that low and middle-income customers prefer Islamic banks. Income level has a positive relationship with the demand of insurance. Beenstock et al. (1998) point out that it is positive influence in industrialized countries between national income a insurance consumption. A very strong income effect on the quantity insurance demanded was found. According to Michel Grignon and Bidenam Kambia Chopin (2009), individuals with an equivalence household income below â‚ ¬700, estimated USD 900, per month are unlikely to buy an insurance policy even if the price was heavily subsidy. Religious In Bahrain, Metawa and Almossawi (1998) concluded that the most important factors in determining the attitudes of Islamic finance consumers were religion follow by profitability. While in Jordan, Naser, Janal and Al-Khatib (1990) extended the study and concluded that organization reputation and religious beliefs were the two most important factors motivating the use of Islamic finance services. Metawa and Almossawi (1998) reported that execution of religious was found to be the key motive for the selection of Islamic finance of methods. Bley and Kuehn (2004) surveyed the business students in the United Arab Emirates (Sharjah) on their knowledge of financial aspects of Islamic and convention financial services. The major finding was that Muslim students preferred Islamic financial products and services because of the religious motivations. In turkey, Okumkus (2005) found that majority of Islamic bank consumers responded that religion was the primary motivation in their use of Islamic products and services. Study which conducted by Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki (2009) also shown that customer do not have so much knowledge about the Islamic finance products such as Mudaraba, but they buy these product for the purpose of religion. Marital Status Marriage has a way of making people grow up and think about the future. Nights out with friends and crawling stores for clothes are replaced by eating in together and saving for a house. But while those priorities shift eventually creates more stable finances. The happy couple will always decides to leverage its new status into a better living quarters, nicer cars and more mature spending priorities like insurance. According to a study on the New York, a peek at their actual household expenditures shows, undoubtedly, that a married couple pays substantially less toward basic living costs compare to a single person. The surplus of the combining income from the couple is well planning to invest in order to accumulating wealth for their future life (Tom Van Riper, 2006). Urbanization The development of insurance is closely related to a countrys urbanization status. A higer degree of urbanization is more likely to increase the insurance sales (Haminond, Houston, and Melander, 1967; Neumano, 1969; Outreville, 1996). When the economies experience a shift in the activities from agriculture to industry, the number of children is decreasing for the cost of raising a child is far higher in the urban area (Hammer 1986). Even though there is a possible reduced demand for insurance consumption, but the reducing of youth dependency has resulted in reducing the expenditure on children. In contrast, people have increased the ability to accumulate the savings which can be invested in the insurance policy like investment linked. The rapid growth of urban population will lead to a change in Chinese traditional family pattern, individual is less likely to obtain the sufficient financial resources from their family. Therefore, the urbanization tends to have an effect on the insura nce consumption (Tienyu Hwang, 2003; Simon Gao, 2003). Price of Insurance The demand for any product and services is very much affected by its price. Taiwan domestic insurance industry was strictly limited by the government agencies in its early ages. This enabled it to become stabilized. Yet, in later years, with the openness for foreign insurance companies and domestic companies, the insurance industry has turned out to be an oligopoly market. In the oligopoly market, competitors profits are maximizing by setting their strategies by paying close attention to how their rivals are likely to react. In these conditions, firms might differentiate their products, which can benefit from consumers, but at a price (OECD, 1999). Consequently, the price variation of insurance products is not obvious (Min-Sun Horng and Yung-Wang Chang, n.d). While according to Michel Grignon and Bidenam Kambia Chopin (2009), due the extra cost associated with better perceived quality of care, individuals have to pay the price of that insurance topping up the basic plan and would purchase it if only the value they get from it exceeds the price they charge for it. US studies raised the price variable as a premium for a standard plan of insurance health product. The premium is imputed on the individuals based on their personality like age, gender and health status, and the local characteristic like the medical price index. Price of insurance is measured as the premium paid by the individual with a given level of risk or the level of coverage. In such condition, price affecting the demand of insurance in two opposite directions, first is as any price of a standard good, a higher premium yields, a lower quantity demanded. While since a higher risk adjusted premium reflects a higher need, a higher premium yields a higher level of demand. According to Min-Sun Horng and Yung-Wang Chang (n.d), individuals with a concave utility of wealth are better off with full coverage and are therefore willing to pay a certain fair amount to reduce the uncertain loss generated by the user charges. While from here, the poor are more willing to purchase insurance. This is because household from developing countries are exposed to high risk, with important consequences on their welfare. They range from individual specific like illness, theft or the unemployment, to the economy-wide risks like drought and recession (Stefan Dercon, 2006; Tessa Bold, 2006; Cesar Calvo, 2006). Insurance companies offering the insurance product obviously for the purpose of profit maximizing. While, the cost of insurance charged is different base on the individuals characteristics across the region. In an actuarially fair world, the price of insurance should reflect the expected cost of treatment and the decision to buy then boils down to ones degree of risk aversion, not the price of the insurance, assuming an individual has enough income to afford the coverage. Risk Aversion Michel Grignon and Bidenam Kambia Chopin (2009) stated that the main motivation for purchasing insurance is protection against a financial risk. Individual purchase insurance in order to reduce the financial risk of having to spend for treatment when fall sick. Barsky et al (1997) and Monheit and Primoff Vistnes (2006) have established that attitudes towards risk and preferences regarding insurance are important determinants of the purchase of insurance as people seek jobs offering employer-sponsored insurance. Schlesinger (1981) demonstrates that an individual with a higher loss probability, a higher degree of risk aversion, or a lower level of initial wealth, will purchase more insurance. This is to minimize the amount of possible loss with the uncertainty condition. Mayers and Smith (1990) believes that closely held firm will tend to be more likely in buying insurance than the firms with less concentrated ownership for the same reason that individual purchase insurance, that is risk aversion. In accordance with the discussion of Browne and Kim (1993), in general, a higher level of education may lead to a greater degree of risk aversion and greater awareness of the necessity of insurance. However, Szpiro and Outreville (198) proved that higher education leads to lower risk aversion, and that, in turn, leads to more risk taking by skilled and well educated people. Others According to Min-Sun Horng and Yung-Wang Chang (n.d), there are other factors that influence the demand for insurance also can be classify by the different law system in various countries and areas. For example, Esho et al. (2004) pointed out that, other thing remain equal, automobile insurance consumption is greater in common law countries than in statutory law countries. Other than this, the factors such as the degree of economic development and market structure would also influence on the demand for insurance. However, the purchase of insurance could help in tax saving is an attractive reason for individual demands on insurance. Awareness of Malaysian towards Islamic Insurance Awareness is the adjectives defined as the mindful or heedful. Aware implies knowledge gained through ones own perceptions by means of information. Cognizant is a formal equivalent of aware Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009). While according to Wikipedia (2009), awareness is the state or ability to perceive, to feel or to be conscious of events or sensory patterns. In this level of consciousness, sense data can be confirmed by an observer without necessarily implying understanding. More broadly, it is the state or quality of being aware of something. In biological psychology, awareness is defined as a humans or an animals perception and cognitive reaction to a condition or event. According to a study conducted by Alsadek and Andrew (2009), indicate that most of the respondents have at least some knowledge about some aspects of Islamic finance, specifically Musharakah (full equity business partnership) and Qard Hassan (interest free benevolent loans), they are generally unaware of many other related product and services. Nonetheless, 85.9 percents of respondents are potential users of Islamic methods of finance at the retail level, through potential use varying markedly according to age, level of education, employment, income level and nationality. As in Erol and El-Bdour (1989) and Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990), factors analysis showed that religious motivation was not the primary reason for Muslim dealing with Islamic banks. The findings also suggested that while Malaysian Muslim and non-Muslim were aware of the existence of Islamic finance services, they were just normally uninformed of specific Islamic financing methods. Hamid and Nordin (2001) focused on the awareness of Malaysian consumers towards Islamic banking within the context of the wider promotion of Islamic education. They found that most of the Malaysian did not differentiate between Islamic and conventional financial products and services, though the majority had sufficient knowledge of the existence and services offered by Malaysian Islamic financial institutions. Likewise, although most of the respondents currently dealt with Islamic banks, they were still in need of additional understanding about the Islamic financial products and services. In Adelaide Rammal and Zurbruegg (2007) surveyed three hundred Muslims regarding their awareness of Islamic financial products and Services. They found that majority of the respondents are interested and prepare to use Islamic methods of finance, but they dun have the understanding on the concept used and how they function. By other saying, most of the respondents have the knowledge about the availability of Islamic financial products and services, but they are unaware of the basic Islamic finance principles and methods. However, Rammal and Zurbruegg (2007) countered that lack of awareness and experience with halal, which is the food seen as permissible according to Islamic law, does not appear unfavorable to consumer willingness to use these products and services. In the study conducted by Jasmi Al-Ajami, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh (2009), they indicated respondents who deal with conventional financing methods are relatively less familiar with products and services offered in Islamic financing methods. The respondents are more familiar with the oldest product which offered under Islamic fining methods. Even though the consumers are relatively more familiar with the products and services, with the exception of those Islamic terms like murabaha, indicate that they are not very well-known with Islamic products and services. The way takaful operators in Malaysia manage their promotion is ineffective, restrained by lack of coherent, nation-wide efforts to disseminate information in order to create demand (UITM International, 2009). A research conducted by Hayati, Bahiah, Ainon and Zuriah (2009) signify that takafuls products, benefits and operation was attributed to the poor promotional campaigns that were carried out by takaful operators over years. This has also impact on the related information dissemination to the public. Non-takaful users are ignorant of and insensible to what is offered by takaful operators. The choice for takaful products indicates that Family Takaful is given priority over General Takaful. While, takaful customers rated benefits, Syariah-complinary, contributions (premium), company services and company reputation as the main determinants for takaful products demand. Instead, the vital deciding factor for non-participation in takaful was cited as lack of knowledge, followed by alre ady possessing conventional insurance, having no need, and lastly comes to the factor lack of affordability. From the study, the researchers suggest that the current level of information support impedes consumer awareness and ability to make informed choices. The study concludes that innovation; particularly in trying to find new ways to deliver information to those unaware of takaful products is the area that needs to be addressed. Progress in this area would increase consumers interest for takaful products. According to Money Works Magazine (1999), there are several factors for the low penetration rate of personal lines insurance in Muslim countries. One of the foremost reasons is the religious bias against insurance as already illustrated in many other studies. Other factors like economic and demographic nature also contribute in the low penetration rate of Islamic insurance. Stated, takaful companies must understand that characteristics of each market and the underlying reasons for low insurance penetration. The operators must clear about the drivers of demand that ought to be harnessed and inhibitors of demand that should be controlled. The starting point is to have an effective awareness campaign followed by offering products that best suit to customer needs and customer means. CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study is to determine the variables which affect the perception of customer on consuming conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. It includes the theoretical framework that focuses the ways independent variables are linked to dependent variables. Then it is followed by discussion on hypothesis development. Along the discussion, some past research will be mentioned as to enhance the point being argued. Moreover, respondents of the study, sampling method used and number of respondents will be discussed in sampling plan. After that, data collection method will give a cue on ways to collect both primary and secondary data. Then, the readers will be exposed to the planning of questionnaire development and its organization. Types of analysis that will be used to analyze data collected are listed down. Justifications for each method adopted are provided. The chapter ends with a summary that spells out the nut shell of the whole story. Theoretical Framework In this study, there are several aspects we must look into as it would differentiate the perceptions or views of consumers and indirectly affecting the intention of Malaysian to select conventional insurance and also the Islamic insurance. In previous chapter, it had been discussed the determinants of insurance demands for instances the demographic factors like income level, gender, educational level, marital status and so on. While, the perceptions of the consumer and non-consumers towards the conventional and Islamic methods of financial products and services also being defined were closely tied to the factors such as the service quality, accessibility, convenience, and status of the service provider. The awareness of Malaysian towards Islamic insurance also has been discussed. Hypothesis Development Hypothesis can be defined as a logically conjectured relationship between two or more variables in the form of tested statement (Sekaran, 2003). Hypothesis development is formulating such testable statement (Sekaran, 2003). In this research study, there are twelve hypotheses have been developed according to the independent variable and dependent variable in the research framework shown above. This is to achieve the objectives listed in Chapter One. Service Quality Service quality refers to the efficient and fast services offered by the company and it is an attractive feature considered by the customers while making decision. According to Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. According to Bitnet, Booms, and Mohr (1994), service quality defined as the consumers overall impression of the relative inferiority or superiority of the organization and its services. Thus, service quality will determine the repeated purchase and customer loyalty to an organization. H1:Service quality has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Accessibility Accessibility defined as the ability to access the functionality and possible benefits of some system or entity like information of the particular products and services by as many people as possible. In this study, the scattering of branches and the information disseminate to the public is the used to measure the accessibility of the conventional and Islamic insurance to the public. H2:Accessibility has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Convenience Convenience is composed of number factors which including the parking space, location of branches, and operation hours. While the exterior and interior environment also the factors which impact on the perception of customers. The convenience provided by the service provider is the primary motivation for the customers consumption and loyalty (Kaynak and Whitely, 1999). H3:Convenience has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Status Status of an organization primarily determine by the financial position and the reputation. Study which conducted by Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki (2009) also revealed that banks name and reputation is a strong effect on selecting a bank. Status has been found to be an influential factors hen an individual decide on selection on Islamic banking. Thus a well established reputation by the insurance company may impact on the customers selection. H4:Status has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Demographic Factors Demographic factors defined as statistical socio-economic characteristics or variables of a population, such as sex, education level, income level, marital status, occupation religion, average size of a family (Business Dictionary, 2009). Demographic factors have been found by some researchers like Thorsten Beck (2003) as the reason for consumption of insurance. Gender The insurance product which offered to women is found to be more expensive than men in general. Yet, the historic data show that women have a higher percentage compared to men in suffering from a chronic disease which requiring ongoing treatment. This has revealed that women have a far higher percentage in need of insurance compare to men. This has obviously impact on the insurance consumption by women (NWLC, 2008). Other than that, the associate also found that a gender rating occurred in the Insurance industry where insurance company can reject the female applicants or impose a higher price or an exclusionary period which refuses to cover some disease. Thus, from the previous study, it is shown that the gender rating has impact on the insurance consumption among women. H5:Gender has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Education Level In previous chapter it has shown that an individual with higher education level may leads to a greater awareness and understanding the importance of insurance (Truett and monitor, 1996; World Bank, 1998). On the other hand, Dusuki and Abdullah (2007) also found that older, relatively well-educated individual will prefer Islamic products and services. Hence, the level of education and demand for insurance is positively correlated. H6:Education level has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Income Level The ability to pay insurance premium is found to be a significant determinant of insurance consumption. When there is an increase in the income levels, there will be follow a need for financial instruments to absorb individual surplus fund and to enable them to accumulate wealth (Beenstock et al, 1998). According to the study conducted by Dusuki and Abdullah (2007), they found that low and middle-income customers prefer Islamic banks. Thus, it is to say that an individual with extra income will more likely on purchasing insurance. H7:Income level has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Religious In Bahrain, Metawa and Almossawi (1998) concluded that the most important factors in determining the attitudes of Islamic finance consumers were religion. Metawa and Almossawi (1998) reported that execution of religious was found to be the key motive for the selection of Islamic finance of methods. H8:Religious has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Marital Status Marriage has a way of making people grow up and think about the future. According to a study on the New York, a peek at their actual household expenditures shows, undoubtedly, that a married couple pays substantially less toward basic living costs compare to a single person. H9:Marital status has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Urbanization According to Haminond, Houston and Melander (1967); Outreville (1996), a higher degree of urbanization is more likely to increase the insurance sales. The rapid growth of urban population will leadnto a change in traditional family pattern, an individual is less likely to obtain the sufficient financial resources from their family. Therefore, the urbanization tends to have an effect on the insurance consumption (Tienyu Hwang, 2003; Simon Gao, 2003). H10:Urbanization has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Price of insurance Consumption of a product and service is very much affected by the pricing. According to Michel Grignon and Bidenam Kambia Chopin (2009), due the extra cost associated with better perceived quality of care, individuals have to pay the price of that insurance topping up the basic plan and would purchase it if only the value they get from it exceeds the price they charge for it. Consequently, an appropriate pricing would lead to the increasing on demand for insurance. H11:Price of insurance has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Risk Aversion Michel Grignon and Bidenam Kambia Chopin (2009) stated that the main motivation for purchasing insurance is protection against a financial risk. Individual purchase insurance in order to reduce the financial risk of having to spend for treatment when fall sick. Barsky et al (1997) and Monheit and Primoff Vistnes (2006) have established that attitudes towards risk and preferences regarding insurance are important determinants of the purchase of insurance. H12:Risk aversion has significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Awareness of Malaysian towards Islamic Insurance The relationship between the independent variables and dependent variables are held closely in showing the awareness of Malaysian towards Islamic insurance. H13:The perception and factors impact on demand for insurance have significant impact on the intention of Malaysian to purchase conventional or Islamic insurance. Sampling Plan A random sample of survey is conducted and the data are collected via self-administered questionnaires distributed to two groups of respondents which are the Muslim and Non-Muslim in Malaysia. This survey is targeted and focus in Multimedia University, representing the core region in Malaysia. It is expected to have a minimum of 150 feedbacks. By having two hundred respondents, we will be able to get sufficient information for later data analysis purpose. The hundred and fifty respondents are believed to provide more accurate information for this research. Malaysia is selected as the sample due to the time and resource constraints, including information or data is hardly to disseminate to the whole population due to the cost constraints. Sampling methods is adopted because it enables us to lower the costs of the research; it is cheaper than studying the whole population while maintaining a high degree of validity. Using sampling method can have less error due to less fatigue; it will bring out better results in this sampling. In addition, sampling method is a quicker way and save time. Furthermore, using sampling method can avoid destruct of elements. Probability sampling also adopted in this study. It provides a non-zero chance of selection for each population element. The simple random sampling techniques give each element an equal and independent chance of being selected. An equal chance means equal probability of selection. Data Collection Method Reliability and consistency are always determining the method of data collection used for a study. In order to further enhance the overall value of this study, both primary and secondary sources of data are used. Primary data for this study will be collected through the distribution of questionnaire to the targeted groups of respondents randomly chosen in the Multimedia University campus. Data collection methods are collected from primary data. Under primary data collection, survey is used to obtain needed data. As compared to other data collection methods, survey method allows the collection of huge amount of data in an economical manner. As for the mode of data collection, self-administered surveys that allow the respondents to complete the survey on his or her oneself were adopted. It is attractive in terms of costs saving, gave respondents control the pace at which they fill survey and avoid interviewer evaluation apprehension (Burns and Bush 2003). Other than that, the researcher also gathers the information and data of the research project from various sources of secondary data. In the study, data was gathered from Internet, books, newspapers and also journals. Emerald and Science Direct database had been widely used in obtaining the relevant articles published in journal. Past research journals play an essential role in this study as it helps in completing the background of the research and the literature review at the early stage. The Internet search engines like Google, Yahoo also used to locate the online articles. The secondary data can be collected easily and inexpensively. Questionnaires Design As mention above, a set of questionnaire was developed to collect the primary data that will be using in this study. A questionnaire is a pre-formulated written set of questions to which respondents record their answer, usually within rather closely defined alternatives, namely the close-ended questions (Sekaran, 2003). Basically, there are steps to follow before a set of questionnaire is established to be ready for distribution. Among the steps are to ensure the validity and appropriateness for each question created. Questions must be related to the research objectives. Other than that, the language must be easy understanding and wording have to be carefully used in building the questions for the respondents convenience. This can prevent the misunderstanding and confusion occurred for prohibiting the response biasness. The questionnaire will be started with brief introduction about the purpose of the study. In section A of the questionnaire, the respondents first will be asking for the brief personal information like the gender, religion, age educational level and so on. This is to disclose the respondents background. While in part B, the perception of the respondents towards conventional and Islamic insurance will be asking focus on the service quality, accessibility, convenience and also the status of the organizations. Then in part C, the question relevant to the factors impact on demand for insurance will be asking. This part will focus on demographic factors like gender, educational level, income level, religion and also marital status. Other than that, factors like urbanization, price of insurance and also the risk aversion will also be asking. The questionnaire will be ended by asking the respondents to rank the sequence of the factors from which is the most influential to least to adoption of both insurance. Data Analysis Method After the data are examined through the questionnaires, it needs to be edited, coded and categorized then entering the data into the system.. Data analysis and interpretation of results can be meaningfully explained by referring to the outcomes of the survey. Below are the analysis methods which will be adopted in this study: Reliability Test: This is the indication of the stability and consistency with which the instrument measures the concept and helps to assess the goodness of a measure. Cronbachs alpha will be use as an estimator of the internal consistency reliability of a psychometric test score for a sample of examinees. This test will be undertaking on the perception factors of respondents towards the Islamic insurance and conventional insurance. Descriptive Analysis: As outcomes of the analysis we will get mean, frequency, standard deviation and percentage of frequency. The bar and Pie chart will be widely used in disclosing the frequency distribution for information interpretation. Table will be use to interpret the other information. This method of analysis will be used in the early stage of the analysis process because it will form the foundation for the subsequent analysis. Person Correlation: The correlation between two variables reflects the degree to which the variables are related. Pearson Correlation is the most common used in determining the relationship between two variables. It is a hypothesis testing on indentifying the relation between independent variable and dependent variable. This test will be applied on analysing the perception of respondents towards conventional and Islamic insurance. Throughout the test, we can interpret the relationship between the dependent and independent factors in a better way. Multiple Regression: It is generally used to explain the relationship between multiple independent or multiple predictor variables and a dependent or criterion variable. In multiple regressions, a dependent variable is modelled as a function of several independent variables with corresponding multiple regression coefficients, along with constant term. In this study, the multiple regression method will be applied in interpreting the data collected from part C of the questionnaire which related to the factors impact on demand for insurance. By this test, the appropriate relationship among these factors can be established.