| dc.description.abstract | The main objective of the study was to establish the challenges of market penetration of general
insurance companies in Kenya. The study was informed by the recent activities in the insurance
market that has seen firms being forced to seek regional expansion without even saturating the
Kenya market. This is for reasons that all players in the insurance industry are competing for the
limited insured population that is estimated at less than 4% (IRA, 2012). This means that the
insurance penetration levels in Kenya are very low hence the intense competition from the few
players in a bid to capture the few insured customers. In order to achieve the above, the study
adopted a cross sectional survey research design as an efficient way to obtain information needed
to describe opinion and views of insurance companies’ functional and divisional managers on the
market penetration challenges. The target population of this was 10% of all 44 licensed insurance
companies in Kenya that were selected using simple random sampling. The collection of the
primary data a was done using structured questionnaires that were pilot tested in order to ensure
that there was reliability as well as validity. The coding of the data was done with the use of
Microsoft Excel as well as SPSS in order to generate the descriptive statistics for instance
frequencies and percentages. The presentation of the results was in form of figures and tables as
well as cross tabulations. The findings on the contribution of the three strategies to enhance
market penetration in the Kenyan market revealed that most of the respondents were of the
opinion that Low cost leadership, differentiation, as well as market focus strategies can enhance
market penetration of general insurance companies. Concerning the internal factors that make
insurance companies to enhance market penetration, the study revealed that the majority of the
respondents, highly rated product differentiation as an internal capability that enhances market
penetration. At the same time majority of the respondents highly rated, pricing, customer service,
management expertise and human resources, client communication, asymmetries, switching
costs as internal factors that influence market penetration for general insurance companies in
Kenya. With regards to the external factors that influence market penetration for general
insurance companies in Kenya. The study findings revealed that the first mover advantage was
highly rated to be the highest influencer as far as market penetration is concerned. This is also
the case for government policy and regulation pressure, market conditions, as well as the
strategic alliances. The study recommends that indeed the insurance industry is indeed a growing
industry as far as acceptance is concerned. It is therefore important for organizations to consider
adopting the three strategies in order to be able to enhance market penetration. The internal
organizational capabilities vary from organization to organization, this therefore means that each
organization has an opportunity to acquire and thereby enhance market penetration. The study
therefore recommends that general insurance companies should maximize on their internal
capabilities in order to enhance market penetration. The external factors that contribute to market
penetration indeed play a vital role in the success of any insurance companies. The study
therefore recommends that the government regulations as well as other external factors should be
aligned in a way that ensures that there is room for companies to explore means of enhancing
market penetration. | en |
