An exploratory study into the implementation of internal marketing in small insurance brokers in the United Kingdom

The purpose of this article is to explore internal marketing in the United Kingdom small insurance brokers. Most research on internal marketing has been conducted in large firms. Consequently, research in this field in small firms, particularly small insurance brokers, has been limited despite their significance to the UK economy. In this study, interviews were conducted with 12 UK small general insurance brokers to explore their understanding and implementation of internal marketing. The findings indicate that internal marketing is used informally and that there are some linkages between the elements of internal marketing. This study contributes to knowledge by identifying the impact of the size of broker and the Treating Customers Fairly regulations on the formality of internal marketing. In practice, managers should give more attention to internal marketing activities in order to achieve the company's aims of customer orientation and better performance.© 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.