LIFE INSURANCE AGENTS' INTENTION OF SELLING HEALTH INSURANCE TO UNHEALTHY CUSTOMERS: THE CASE OF TAIWAN

This study examines life insurance agents’ awareness of ethical issues, ethical attitudes, and behavioral intentions toward selling health insurance to unhealthy customers. The study further examines how ethical attitudes and intentions are influenced by sales compensation, performance pressure, and underwriting policies of insurance companies. Full-time life insurance agents completed questionnaires during regular meetings. Using partial least square (PLS) regression, the results indicate that awareness of ethical issues influences the ethical attitudes and behavioral intentions of life insurance agents. Ethical attitudes are the most important variable affecting behavioral intentions. The study also finds that the stringency of the life insurance company's underwriting policy is a significant factor influencing life insurance agents’ ethical attitudes. Life insurance agents who knowingly sell health insurance to unhealthy customers may cause financial harm to the life insurance companies, and other honest customers may need to pay higher rates in the future as a result of this behavior. The findings of this study may serve as a reference for insurance regulators and life insurance companies. The findings also add to the literature on insurance fraud and support the idea that underwriting policies can influence the ethical attitudes of life insurance agents.