Designing the competences model of marketing specialists in the insurance industry using grounded theory

Due to the developments in the field of digital technology and the expansion of social media, the competences and capabilities of marketers in order to use these tools and keep pace with these developments in the insurance industry are vague and unclear. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to provide a model for the competences of marketing specialists in the country’s insurance industry.

This research, relying on qualitative data, has been collected and seeks to provide an acceptable framework in relation to the indicators for determining the competences of marketing professionals in the insurance industry, and finally to fill the current gap in the insurance marketing literature . This research in terms of its goal is a developmental research. The implementation method of this research is to apply foundation grounded theory using a systematic approach. The statistical population of this research includes managers and marketers active in different insurance companies in Iran and they were selected using the purposive sampling method. With this attitude, the selection of experts was done based on two criteria: having at least five years of work experience in the sectors related to the insurance industry and having a master’s degree or higher in the fields of business management and insurance. The semi-structured interviews continued by phone and face-to-face, with six general questions, until theoretical saturation was realized in the ninth interview.

In this research, the systematic data approach of the grounded theory was used. In the systematic approach, theorizing was done in three main steps: open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. In this way, in order to identify the constituent factors of the competency model of marketing specialists in the insurance industry, data analysis in the open coding stage led to the extraction of 77 primary open codes, 17 sub-themes and finally 7 main fields.In the phase of axial coding, 7 main topics in the form of core phenomena (general and specialized competence); causal conditions (including individual capabilities); strategies (including the development of the capabilities of insurance marketers); intervening conditions (including environmental factors); contextual conditions (including policies of the insurance company); and the consequences (including the development of the insurance industry) were identified and then a paradigm model was drawn. Finally, in selective coding, the previous findings were refined and through this process, a theoretical framework was obtained. According to the obtained model, the general and specialized competence of marketers in the country’s insurance industry are influenced by factors related to individual capabilities. In addition, the development of the capabilities of insurance marketers with the aim of strengthening their competences are influenced by environmental factors and the policies of the insurance company. In the end, it was found that the development of the capabilities of insurance marketers could lead to the expansion of the country’s insurance industry.

Based on the investigation of various factors and by emphasizing the necessary developments in the business environment, this research will be able to respond to the deficiencies and gaps in the past-related studies to the competence of insurance marketers. Therefore, strengthening and developing all dimensions and components of this model through planning and using it in attracting and cultivating insurance marketers, evaluating their competences and creating a database of qualified marketers will be able to act as a facilitator for Realization of transformation and development of the insurance industry in the country