Saddling effect of underlying contracts on sales performance: a multi-group analysis in the takaful industry
ISSN: 1759-0833
Article publication date: 25 April 2022
Issue publication date: 11 May 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of information overload (referred to as the saddling effect in this study) of underlying contracts on the sales performance of the salesforce at takaful institutions with special reference to addressing the heterogeneous effect among distribution channels.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 311 samples were collected from the sales professionals of the takaful industry in Malaysia using a purposive sampling technique and the empirical analysis was conducted with the measures of model fit and bootstrapping technique using partial least square structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis.
Findings
Empirical results indicate that the saddling effect of the underlying contracts is evident among salesforce and the magnitude of the impact was found to be heterogeneous between the groups of salesforces in different distribution channels.
Practical implications
Findings recommend respective authorities of takaful institutions to intensify capacity building for their salesforce, particularly in the area of shariah knowledge and nature of underlying Islamic contracts used in the takaful products. A significant heterogeneous effect between distribution channels suggests that the actions and policy formulations should be diverse between the salesforce at different distribution channels and higher attention should be catered for the salesforce at the direct selling channel.
Originality/value
The increased information expectation (i.e. underlying contract knowledge) on takaful salesforce and its impact on their sales performance have not been documented before. The increase in information may create a burdening effect or what is referred to in this study as the information or knowledge “saddling effect.” If a saddling effect is identified, this may be a formidable reason for the slowing growth of the takaful industry in the respective market. It is expected that the outcome of this study would assist not only to fill the gap in the literature of personnel selling in the takaful industry but also will assist the takaful institutions in formulating appropriate policies for tackling the issue of the saddling effect of underlying contracts.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the sales professionals of Takaful institutions in Malaysia who devoted their valuable time for responding to the survey questionnaire of this research.
Citation
Shamsudheen, S.V., Mahomed, Z. and Muneeza, A. (2023), "Saddling effect of underlying contracts on sales performance: a multi-group analysis in the takaful industry", Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 1621-1642. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-07-2021-0235
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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