Internal Marketing Based on the Hierarchy of Effects Model for the Life Insurance Industry

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the extent to which ethical climate, leader–member exchange, and role clarity can be employed as business levers in internal marketing; the relationships among them are investigated using a conceptual model based on the hierarchy of effects model. From several major life insurance firms in Taiwan, 644 life insurance salespeople formed the basis of the empirical analysis in this study. Ethical climate is not only a feasible business practice for implementing internal marketing but also a basis for other managerial activities concerning internal marketing. Managerial activities arousing salespeople's perceptions of ethical climate, leader-member exchange, and role clarity may be useful in enhancing their job satisfaction, and in strengthening the organizational identification and organizational commitment of their salespeople. This study extends the internal marketing literature both by applying the principles of the hierarchy of effects model to internal marketing, and by examining the effects of ethical climate, leader-member exchange, and role clarity on job outcomes within such a context.