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Market Research Report 3
Marketing Research Report
Kevin Landers
Liberty University
BUSI 331
Dr. Rebecca Lingley
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Introduction
It is the attempt of this research project to learn how consumers, specifically younger
generations including millennials, compare core values of property and casualty insurance
carriers when selecting the provider of coverage for their commercial small business insurance
protection. Quantitative research can be a method to close in on answers to questions that have
definitive answers for gaining metrics and statistical data for validating results. A survey or
questionnaire method is a great way to gauge a group of small business owners, from a variety of
industries, of the key values and drivers of higher customer satisfaction that suggest loyalty and
core strengths are sought during a buying process. The report will survey a variety of small
business owners who have recently shopped for commercial small business insurance or who
have recently had an annual review with their commercial small business insurance advisor. In
the attempt of gaining a sampling of at least thirty respondents, the survey will be posted to small
business owners abroad within a network of centers of influence who have high impact within
the various industry groups each possible respondent represents. There will be a variety of
questions for each survey participant to answer directly with at least two demographic survey
questions.
Research Problem
It is a recognized commonality among small business owners when discussing their
insurance policies prior to or after a covered cause of loss, a financial loss of some sort that
affects the operations, employees, inventory, or cash flow of their business. You get what you pay
for. This statement of displeasure, as when it is most often used, seems to reflect a situation
where the commercial small business owner did not get what they expected to get out of the
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policy issued by their insurance carrier that was paid for at the time of a loss, or the statement
reflects the small business owner did not get the service within a timeframe they expected to get
the service in from the insurance carrier, or frankly the service given from their commercial
small business insurance agent or broker. In the commercial insurance industry, as it is in the
personal lines insurance industry, it is construed that the cheapest insurance is the best insurance,
because it saves people money and therefore it is the best. A question to be posed to the same
buyers of small business insurance who also purchase business technology such as smartphones,
laptops, tools, software, and vendor supplied products is, “Are you willing to buy the cheapest
technologies, such as a smartphone, to operate your business as efficiently as possible and to be
the most profitable in terms of time and number of your customers covered and retained each
year?”. In fact, in the commercial insurance industry, the cheaper the insurance is the more
concerning questions there are, at least questions that are raised by the professionals and experts
in the commercial insurance industry. The questions raised pose problems that can arise during
the time of a loss for the small business owner, in other words, there seems to be a gap within the
supposed protection of the business, future revenues, and even reputation when it comes to
pricing, because holistically there are average insurance costs for a commercial business based
on the industry exposures a specific business faces as well as costs dependent on the number of
employees and various other risks. Another question to be answered by a small business owner is
where does the business owner want their business to be after a loss, with the three main
probable answers being no longer in business after the loss due to financial burden, struggling to
remain in business due to financial burden, or put back where it was once at financially prior to
the loss. As the issue of value in property and casualty commercial small business insurance is
researched, the key scoring of values, or net promoter scoring, will provide an insight of key
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attributes sought after by small business owners to satisfy their comfort level of having the
appropriate insurance protection for their business, and their livelihood they have and will
continue to build. The research will take a peek into the effect of pricing as it relates to the value,
protection, and service gained prior to the purchase of an insurance policy and the perceived
value during the term of the purchased insurance policy for a small business.
An important note during research will be to determine if particular brands, ratings and
common knowledge of the top commercial insurance carrier brands and ratings as well as
common knowledge of the less known and non-admitted brands, or regional carrier brands, have
an effect of perceived value of commercial small business owners.
Methodology
This project will include a conglomerate of survey of questions, conducted online
through a networking portal of small business owners, to learn how the sampling feels about the
value, protection, and service of the protection in place and available to purchase in the form of
an insurance policy provided by a commercial insurance carrier. A survey is a known method to
do quantitative research to learn transparent feedback of a group of specific groups of people in
an interactive and relatively speedy format. This method can provide a researcher data to
populate conclusions about the answers the researcher is looking for, and to assist marketers in
how to market, what to market, and even when to market their respective products to the target
class of consumers.
In this survey research method, there will be approximately 100+ respondents who are
small business owners and who have either purchased an insurance policy directly in the
previous 3 years, who are in the process of purchasing an insurance policy, or who will be
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purchasing an insurance policy for their small business within the next 6 months. The survey will
be conducted on LinkedIn through the networking platform capabilities and will consist of 10
key questions. The data will be utilized in summary to determine value propositions the group
seeks when deciding to buy and the determination to be loyal in the long-term to the insurance
brokerage and to the insurance carrier based on fulfillment of insurance protection and how the
protection is triggered during a loss, how it sustains the business’ financial status’, and the value
of the service provided before, during, and after a property or casualty loss.
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References
CIRT, C. (2020). Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching. Retrieved from
https://cirt.gcu.edu/research/developmentresources/tutorials/question
Fuchs, Marek. (2009). (Optimal) Governance of Research Support by 'Survey
Methodology'. SSRN Electronic Journal. 10.2139/ssrn.1452668.
Jansen, Karen & Corley, Kevin & Jansen, Jim. (2007). E-Survey Methodology.
Pennsylvania State College of Information Sciences and Technology. Retrieved on from
10.4018/978-1-59140-792-8.ch001.
Monkey, S. (2020). Using Social Media Surveys & Questionnaires. Retrieved from
https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/social-media-surveys/
Thomson, K., Purcell, K., & Rainie, L. (2019, December 31). Section 4: Social Media
Use. Retrieved April 21, 2020, from
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2013/01/04/section-4-social-media-use/
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Appendix A – Survey Methodology Questions
1. Do you own a business?
2. Are you male or female?
3. Have you purchase a small business owner policy for property and casualty
protection of your business in the past, currently purchasing, or will purchase in the
next six months?
4. Do you enjoy an annual review of your businessowners insurance policy with your
insurance agent?
5. Do you prefer cheaper business insurance with less protection or more expensive
business insurance with more protection?
6. Would you like to be considered as a consulted customer during a sale or as a
transaction with very little consultation about your purchase?
7. Will you be loyal to an insurance agent and carrier who provides exemplary service
to your expectations?
8. What is the value of transparency? Do you consider transparency of capabilities and
coverage above pricing?
9. How important is pricing to you of your insurance coverage?
10. Would you pay more for your phone that is probably more temporary than your
insurance policy for your business?
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Respondent Table
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Appendix B – Visuals
The visual represents the respondent answers to ten survey questions pointed to value of
commercial small business insurance protection. As the visual indicates, the values vary
depending on the respondents perception of value of insurance protection for their business and
the nature and various characteristics of the protection they pay for, received in the form os an
insurance policy, an intangible product that is executed when a loss occurs with tangible service
benefits that are recognized throughout a sales cycle of the product and during the life or term of
the product. According to the responses, more important products to business owners than
protection of future revenues, business operations, employees, property, and negligence include
smartphones. A consultative effort of insurance professionals toward business owners may not
produce positive results of loyalty. Cheaper pricing, even if the product is broadly protecting the
Response Codes
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businessowner and their business, may not product the fruit of content if a smartphone becomes
more expensive over time, taking funds from an insurance protection plan and giving even more
toward the smartphone if the owner is taking in the approximate same income year over year.
The chart reflects a quality sampling of twenty-five businessowners that vary in their perception
of value. Value is what a businessowner deems is valuable to their business based on the
exposure their operations may face, and how public the business itself may be. Value is seen for
what is also given in return. Since a commercial small business insurance policy is an intangible
product and since it holistically does not give anything to a business owner in return unless there
is a loss caused by a significant peril, a smartphone, costing more in many cases than an
insurance policy for a business, is perceived as a more valuable asset and product since the
smartphone is a major tool in today’s business world, which provides a way to produce more
revenues and allow business owners to provide a quality service to their customers.
