Reputation Management

The establishment of a good reputation often takes many years, but it can also be permanently destroyed in just a few minutes. The aim of this research is to identify and prioritize factors that determine the reputation of insurance companies in Germany and Slovakia. To ensure that reputation measures taken by the insurer lead to successful results and to model possible courses of action, the perspectives of both the companies and the customers are examined. After gaining an overview of the state of the problem through a systematic literature search, the perspective of the insurers was examined. For this purpose, twelve semistructured expert interviews were conducted with executives from the insurance industry, which were evaluated qualitatively. Subsequently, the perspective of customers was examined by means of an online survey, which was answered by 224 insurance customers in Germany and Slovakia. The most important factors for the formation of a positive reputation were identified as the speed of feedback and processing, as well as well-trained and motivated staff. Based on the results of the study, a 10-point plan was developed, which provides insurers with a basis for reputation management to eliminate possible reputation risks in advance and prevent reputational loss. With a bilingual abstract in German and English.