BUILDING INSURANCE BRAND IMAGE IN THE SME SECTOR IN
                POLAND – AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

                                  Aneta ONISZCZUK-JASTRZABEK1
                                          Joanna BEDNARZ2
                                           Tomasz CZUBA3
                                     Piotr Oskar CZECHOWSKI4


Abstract: The source of the distinctive offer are: product design, its features, technology of
production, consumer services and a well-known brand appreciated by consumers. Branded
products are perceived by consumers as remarkable, that are not able to be substituted by the
goods offered by competitors. The brand and its image provide the customer with an emotional
or symbolic benefits that are essential in building strong relations between a company and its
clients. The similar mechanism is observed on the insurance market. PZU SA has been the best
known Polish insurance company indicated by SMEs for the period 2012-2017. It is worth to
mention that its spontaneous brand awareness is over 90%. For these reasons PZU SA can be
perceived as a good example of the business model for other insurance companies. The aim of
this paper is to identify the most important factors that affect the image of insurance companies
present on the Polish market. Basing on the association tests the authors also tried to discover
the specific image of each company. The method of direct interview was used to collect data from
respondents representing the SME sector (survey method: direct interview (PAPI)). For each of
the groups, the sampled group is representative. To present results independently from the
number of employees shown in the report as SMEs IN TOTAL (weighted data in total), a system
of weightings was developed to allow obtaining results for the entire market. The sampling was
done randomly using a list of companies drawn up by the Main Statistical Office (GUS). The
algorithm for selecting companies to represent the SME sector was developed by a specialist
from Qualifact company. Companies were chosen with the use of systematic draw technique.
Targeting the examined population according to the section (production, construction, trade,
hotels / restaurants, transport, financial intermediation, real estate, education, others) and
province, guaranteed appropriate proportion of the number of companies representing different
economic sectors.

Key words: brand, insurance, SME, Poland
JEL code: G20, G22, M21, M31