Perceived values, awareness and acceptance of Islamic Insurance in Tatarstan

Abstract

Over the last decades, various aspects of Islamic banking and finance, especially Takaful has tremendous attention from various stakeholders in Tatarstan including the government, scholars and public opinion experts. This is in line with the aim of the Russian Federation towards making Tatarstan Republic the hub of Islamic banking and finance in its region. This research thus examines the level of awareness, perceived values and acceptance of the public towards Islamic insurance in Tatarstan. The study implemented Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to analyse the factors affecting Tatarstan citizens’ intention to patronize Islamic insurance in Tatarstan. Relevant primary data were elicited from 210 respondents via a survey questionnaire. The data obtained was subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis using “Statistical Package for Social Sciences” (SPSS) and “Analysis of Moment Structure” (AMoS) computer software respectively. Specifically, AMoS was employed to perform Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The findings of the study indicated that the Tatarstan public has general awareness about Islamic insurance and is willing to patronize it. Subjective Norms and Perceived values were both found to significantly influence intention to patronise Takaful services in Tatarstan.