Original Research Article
Year: 2017 | Month: November | Volume: 7 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 234-246
An Empirical Analysis of Customer Satisfaction with Cooperative Health Insurance in Saudi Arabia: The Role of Customer Knowledge, Service Characteristics, and National Culture
Mohammad F. Alharbi
Department of Health Administration, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, Qassim University, Qassim, KSA
ABSTRACT
Background: The current study was conducted to examine customer satisfaction with cooperative health insurance coverage.
Materials and Methods: Primary data collected from a sample of 395 local and expatriate workers of the Al-Qassim region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Cross-sectional data were analyzed using the partial least squares algorithm to test the proposed model. The study used a self-administered questionnaire to investigate the role of the service features, customer knowledge, and the national culture in customer satisfaction with the cooperative health insurance system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Results: A positive and significant relationship was found between the four cooperative health insurance service characteristics (availability, acceptability, accessibility, and quality) and customer satisfaction. However, the quality factor emerged as critical in determining customer satisfaction, with 34% variation in the dependent variable with R2 (0.34). Furthermore, no significant relationship was found between customer satisfaction and customer knowledge. However, investigation of the impact of national culture as a mediator was insignificant.
Conclusions: The study findings are expected to be of great interest for healthcare providers and health insurance companies with regard to more diversification, improvement, and better service delivery for their customer satisfaction.
Key words: Customer Satisfaction, Cooperative Health Insurance, Services Characteristics, Customer Knowledge, National Culture