Public Relations Media and the Operations of Nigerian Underwriting Firms

Abstract

Contribution of insurance to the gross domestic product of Nigeria is abysmally low at 0.3 per cent especially if this is compared with those of South Africa (16.99%), Namibia (6.69%), Lesotho (4.76%) and Zimbabwe (4.09). In changing this, the insurance industry set an objective of reaching three per cent in the short term since 2014. This is however a mirage. This study examined the usage of public relations media in ensuring that the set target is met through in-depth interview method as a qualitative study. Population was the 55 conventional insurance companies in Nigeria registered as at 2017. Four respondents were selected through maximal variation sampling technique. This qualitative sampling technique ensured that the three different types of insurance companies that formed the population of the study were represented. The saturation point was reached at the fourth respondent. The data were analysed thematically. The study found that insurance operations in Nigeria do not adequately use public relations media in reaching their stakeholders and this underlined why the industry failed to achieve the three per cent contribution to the GDP set for the short term. The study concluded that the poor usage of public relations media makes the attainment of the set objective not to be met. Accordingly, the study recommended that Nigerian insurance companies should adequately use the public relations media in order to achieve the target of three per cent contribution to the GDP of Nigeria.

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