TABLE

Sr. Title Pg. No.

No.

1. INTRODUCTION 3-10

2. INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC 11-40

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 41-45

4. LITERATURE REVIEW 46-48

5. DATA ANALYSIS 49-74

6. CONCLUSIONS 75

7. SUGGESTIONS 76

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY 79-80

9. QUESTIONS 81-85

1
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sr.No. Title Pg.No.

1. INTRODUCTION

 Meaning

 History
3- 10
 Overview

 INTRODUCTION OF CONSUMER PERCEPTION

 Life insurance corporation of india

 ING VYSYA Life insurance

 ICICI Prudential Life insurance company

 OM KOTAK MAHINDRA Life insurance company

 MET Life insurance company

 BIRLA SUN Life insurance company

 MAX NEW YORK Life insurance

 HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 Scope & Need & Objectives of the study

 Research design
41-45
 Limitation of the study

3. LITERATURE REVIEW 46-48

4. DATA ANALYSIS 49-74

5. CONCLUSIONS 75

2
 SUGGESTIONS 76

BIBLIOGRAPHY 77- 81

QUESTIONS 82

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

Everyone is exposed to various risks. Future is very uncertain, but there is way to
protect one’s family and make one’s children’s future safe. Life Insurance
companies help us to ensure that our family’s future is not just secure but also
prosperous.

3
Life Insurance is particularly important if you are the sole breadwinner for your
family. The loss of you and your income could devastate your family. Life insurance
will ensure that if anything happens to you, your loved ones will be able to manage
financially.

This study titled “Study of Consumers Perception about Life Insurance Policies”
enables the Life Insurance Companies to understand how consumer’s perception
differs from person to person. How a consumer selects, organizes and interprets the
service quality and the product quality of different Life Insurance Policies, offered
by various Life Insurance Companies.

Insurance is a tool by which fatalities of a small number are compensated out

of funds (premium payment) collected from plenteous. Insurance companies pay
back for financial losses arising out of occurrence of insured events e.g. in personal
accident policy death due to accident, in fire policy the insured events are fire and
other allied perils like riot and strike, explosion etc. hence insurance safeguard
against uncertainties. It provides financial recompense for losses suffered due to
incident of unanticipated events, insured with in policy of insurance. Moreover,
through a number of acts of parliament, specific types of insurance are legally
enforced in our country e.g. third party insurance under motor vehicles Act, public
liability insurance for handlers of hazardous substances under environment
protection Act. Etc.

WHAT IS INSURANCE

It is a commonly acknowledged phenomenon that there are countless risks in every

sphere of life .for property, there are fire risk; for shipment of goods. There are
perils of sea; for human life there are risk of death or disability; and so on .the
chances of occurrences of the events causing losses are quite uncertain because
these may or may not take place. Therefore, with this view in mind, people facing
common risks come together and make their small contribution to the common fund.
While it may not be possible to tell in advance, which person will suffer the losses,
it is possible to work out how many persons on an average out of the group, may

4
suffer losses. When risk occurs, the loss is made good out of the common fund .in
this way each and every one shares the risk .in fact they share the loss by payment
of premium, which is calculated on the likelihood of loss .in olden time, the
contribution make the above-stated notion of insurance.

DEFINITION OF INSURANCE

Insurance has been defined to be that in, which a sum of money as a

premium is paid by the insured in consideration of the insurer’s bearings the risk of
paying a large sum upon a given contingency. The insurance thus is a contract
whereby:

a. Certain sum, termed as premium, is charged in consideration,

b. Against the said consideration, a large amount is guaranteed to be

paid by the insurer who received the premium,
c. The compensation will be made in certain definite sum, i.e., the loss
or the policy amount which ever may be, and
d. The payment is made only upon a contingency

More specifically, insurance may be defined as a contact between two parties,

wherein one party (the insurer) agrees to pay to the other party (the insured) or the
beneficiary, a certain sum upon a given contingency (the risk) against which
insurance is required.

TYPES OF INSURANCE

Insurance occupies an important place in the modern world because of the risk,
which can be insured, in number and extent owing to the growing complexity of
present day economic system. The different type of insurance have come about by
practice within insurance companies, and by the influence of legislation controlling
the transacting of insurance business, broadly, insurance may be classified into the
following categories:
5
 1. Classification from business point of view

a) Life insurance, and

b) General insurance

2. Classification on the basis of nature of insurance

a) Life insurance

b) Fire insurance

c) Marine insurance

d) Social insurance, and

e) Miscellaneous insurance

3. Classification from risk point of view

a) Personal insurance

b) Property insurance

c) Liability insurance

d) Fidelity general insurance

THE IMPORTANCE OF INSURANCE

Insurance benefits society by allowing individuals to share the risks faced by

many people. But it also serves many other important economic and societal
functions. Because insurance is available and affordable, banks can make loans with
the assurance that the loan’s collateral (property that can be taken as payment if a
loan goes unpaid) is covered against damage. This increased availability of credit
helps people buy homes and cars. Insurance also provides the capital that
communities need to quickly rebuild and recover economically from natural
disasters, such as tornadoes or hurricanes.

6
 Insurance itself has become a significant economic force in most
industrialized countries. Employers buy insurance to cover their employees against
work-related injuries and health problems. Businesses also insure their property,
including technology used in production, against damage and theft. Because it
makes business operations safer, insurance encourages businesses to make
economic transactions, which benefits the economies of countries. In addition,
millions of people work for insurance companies and related businesses. In 1996
more than 2.4 million people worked in the insurance industry in the United States
and Canada. Insurance as an investment that offers a lot more in terms of returns,
risk cover &as also that tax concessions & added bonuses

Not all effects of insurance are positive ones. The possibility of earning insurance
payments motivates some people to attempt to cause damage or losses. Without the
possibility of collecting insurance benefits, for instance, no one would think of
arson, the willful destruction of property by fire, as a potential source of money.

THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY TODAY

Since the 1970s, the insurance business has grown dramatically and undergone
tremendous changes. As a result of the deregulation of financial services
businesses— including insurance, banking, and securities trading—the roles,
products, and services of these formerly distinct businesses have become blurred.
For instance, citizens in the U.S. state of California voted in 1988 to allow banks to
sell insurance in that state. In Canada, banks may also soon be allowed to sell
insurance.

Advances in communications technology have also allowed traditionally distinct

financial businesses to keep instantaneous track of developments in other businesses
and compete for some of the same customers. Some insurance companies now offer

7
deposit accounts and mortgages. In the United States, life insurance companies now
sell more pension plans and other asset management services than they do
conventional life insurance.

Developments in computer technology that have given insurance providers

the ability to quickly access and process information have allowed them to custom-
design policies to fit the needs of individual customers. But the increasing
complexity of policies has also made some aspects of buying and selling insurance
more difficult.

In addition, improvements in geological and meteorological technology have the

potential to change the way property insurers calculate risks of damage. For
example, as scientists improve their abilities to predict severe weather patterns, such
as hurricanes, and geological disturbances, such as earthquakes, insurers may
change how they provide protection against losses from such events

EVOLUTION OF INSURANCE IN INDIA

The marine insurance is the oldest form of insurance. If we trace Indian

history there are evidence that marine insurance was practiced here about three
thousand years ago. The code of Manu indicates that there was the practice of
marine insurance carried out by the traders in India with those of Srilanka, Egypt
and Greece .it is wonderful to see that Indians had even anticipated the doctrine of
average and contribution. Fright was fixed according to season and was then very
much at the mercy of the wind and other elements. Travelers by sea and land were
very much exposed to the risk of losing their vessels and merchandise because of
piracy on open seas and highway robbery of caravans was very common. The
practice of insurance was very common during the rule of Akbar to Aurangzeb, but

8
the nature and coverage of the insurance in this period is not well known. It was the
British insurer who introduced general insurance in India in the modern form. The
Britishers opened general insurance in India around the year 1700 .the first company
known as the sun insurance office was set up in Calcutta in the year 1710. This was
followed by several insurance companies like London assurance and royal exchange
assurance (1720), Phoenix Assurance Company (1782). Etc. General insurance
business in the country was nationalized with effect from 1st January 1973 by the
General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972. More than 100 non-life
insurance companies including branches of foreign companies operating within the
country were amalgamated and grouped into four companies, viz., the National
Insurance Company Ltd., the New India Assurance Company Ltd., the Oriental
Insurance Company Ltd., and the United India Insurance Company Ltd. with head
offices at Calcutta, Bombay, New Delhi and Madras, respectively.

Life insurance in the current form came in India from united

kingdom with the establishment of a British firm, oriental life assurance company in
1818 followed by Bombay life assurance company in 1823, the madras equitable
life insurance society in 1829 and oriental life assurance company in 1874.prior to
1871, Indian lives were treated as sub standard and charged an extra premium of
15% to 20%. Bombay mutual life assurance society, an Indian insurer that came in
to existence in 1871, was the first to cover Indian lives at normal rates. The Indian
insurance company Act 1923 was enacted inter alia, to enable the government to
collect statistical information about life and nonlife insurance business transacted in
India by Indian and foreign insurer, including the provident insurance societies.

The first half of the 20th century marked by two world war, the adverse
affects of the World War I and World War II on the economy of India, and in

9
between them the period of world wide economic crises triggered by the Great
depression. The first half of the 20th century was also marked by struggles for
India’s independence. The aggregate effect of these events led to a high rate of
bankruptcies and liquidation of life insurance companies in India. This had adversely
affected the faith of the general public in the utility of obtaining life cover

In this background, the Parliament of India passed the Life Insurance of India
Act on 19th June 1956, and the Life Insurance Corporation of India was created on
1st September, 1956, by consolidating the life insurance business of 245 private life
insurers and other entities offering life insurance services.

Since 1972, the insurance sector has been totally under the control
of government of India through LIC and GIC and its subsidiaries. As a result,
revenue of both of them increased in the last years .the amount of savings pooled by
LIC increased from Rs.2704 crores in 1974 to Rs .57670 in 1994 with an annual
growth rate of 16.53% .similarly premium underwritten by GIC rose from 280
crores in 193 to 7647 crores in 1998 showing an annual growth rate of 25.18%.

Despite increase in premium collected by both LIC and GIC their were
inefficiency and red tapeisumcreeped in to the insurance sector. Apart from that a
major policy shift by the Narasimha Rau government during 1990’s.the Indian
economy opened for foreign competition .In this background The government of
India in 1993 had set-up a high powered committee by R.N Malhothra ,former
governor reserve bank of India, to examine the structure of Indian insurance sector
and recommended changes to make it more efficient and competitive keeping in
view structural changes in other part of the financial system of the country.

Insurance sector has been opened up for competition from Indian private
insurance companies with the enactment of Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority Act, 1999 (IRDA Act). As per the provisions of IRDA Act, 1999,
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) was established on 19th
April 2000 to protect the interests of holder of insurance policy and to regulate,
promote and ensure orderly growth of the insurance industry. IRDA Act 1999 paved

10
the way for the entry of private players into the insurance market, which was
hitherto the exclusive privilege of public sector insurance companies/ corporations.

EVOLUTION OF INSURANCE ORGANIZATION

With a view to serve the society, the insurance organizations have been
developed in different forms with innovation of insurance practice for social welfare
and development; some of these forms are outlined here.

a) Self-insurance
The arrangement in which an individual or concern sets up a private fund to
meet the future risk. If some losses happened in the future the firm meets the loss
out of the fund. While it may be called ‘self insurance’ it is not a single matter of
fact, insurance at all because there is no hedge, no shifting, or distributing the
burden of risk among larger Persons. It is merely a provision to meeting the
unforeseen event. Here the insured become the insurer for the particular risk. But it
can be effectively worked only when there is wide distribution of risks subjected the
same hazard.

b) Partnership

A partnership firm may also carry on the insurance business for the sake of profit.
Since it is not an entity distinct from the persons comprising it, the personal liability
of partners in respect to the partnership debts is unlimited. In case of huge loss the
partners may have to pay from their own personal funds and it will not be profitable
to them to starts insurance business .in the early period before the advent of joint
stock companies many insurance undertakings were partnership firms or
unincorporated companies

c) Joint stock companies

11
 The joint stock companies are those, which are organized by the shareholders
who subscribe the necessary capital to start the business. These are formed for
earning profits for the stockholders who are the real owners of the companies. The
management of a company is entrusted to a board of directors who is elected by the
shareholders from amongst themselves. The company can operate insurance
business and policyholders have nothing to do with the management of the concern.
But in life insurance it is the practice to share certain portion of profit among the
certain policyholders.

d) Mutual fund companies

The mutual fund companies are co- operative association formed for the
purpose of effecting insurance on the property of its members. The policyholders are
themselves the shareholders of the companies each member is insured as well as
insured. They have power to participate in management and in the profit sharing to
the full extent. Whenever the income is more than the expenses and claims, it is
accumulated I the form of saving and is entitled in reducing the rate of premium.
Since the insured are insurers also, they always try to reduce the management
expenses and to keep the business at sound level.

e) Co-operative insurance organizations

Cooperative insurance organizations are those concerns, which are

incorporated and registered under Indian cooperative societies Act. The concerns are
also called ‘co operative insurance societies’ these societies like mutual fund
companies are non profit organization .the aim is to provide insurance protection to
its members at the lowest reasonable net cost .the Indian insurance Act. 1938, has
provided special provisions for the co-operative insurance societies, but after
nationalization the societies have ceased to exist.

f) Lloyd’s Association

12
 Lloyd’s association is one of the greatest insurance institutions in the world.
Taking its name from the coffee house Lloyd where underwriters assembled to
transact business and pick-up news. The organization traces its origins to the latter
part of the seventeenth century .so it is the oldest insurance organization in existing
form in the world. In 1871,Lloyds Act was passed incorporating the members of the
association into a single corporate body with perpetual succession and a corporate
seal .the powers of Lloyds corporation were extended from the business of marine
insurance to the other insurance and guarantee business. The Lloyds Association
also publishes, Lloyds list and register of shipping for the information of insuring
public and the insurers

g) State Insurance

The government of a nation, some times, owns the insurance and runs the
business for the benefit of the public. The sate insurance is defined as that insurance
which is under public sector. In Brazil, Japan and Mexico, the insurance are largely
nationalized. Previously, the state undertook only those insurances, which were
regarded as vital for the national interest.

INSURANCE SECTOR REFORMS

Having looked at the insurance sector, the efforts made by the government to
make the industry more dynamic and customer friendly. To begin with, the
Malhotra committee was set up with the objective of suggesting changes that would
achieve the much required dynamism.

The Malhotra Committee Report

In 1993, Malhotra Committee, headed by former Finance Secretary and RBI

Governor R. N. Malhotra, was formed to evaluate the Indian insurance industry and
recommend its future direction. In 1994, the committee submitted the report and
gave the following recommendations:

13
  Structure

Government stake in the insurance Companies to be brought down to 50%

Government should take over the holdings of GIC and its subsidiaries so that
these subsidiaries can act as independent corporations
All the insurance companies should be given greater freedom to operate

 Competition

Private Companies with a minimum paid up capital of Rs.1bn should be allowed to

enter the industry
No Company should deal in both Life and General Insurance through a single entity
Foreign companies may be allowed to enter the industry in collaboration with the
domestic companies.
Postal Life Insurance should be allowed to operate in the rural market.

Only one State Level Life Insurance Company should be allowed to operate in each
state Regulatory Body The Insurance Act should be changed.

An Insurance Regulatory body should be set up. Controller of Insurance

(Currently a part from the Finance Ministry) Investments

Mandatory Investments of LIC Life Fund in government securities to be reduced

from 75% to 50%.
GIC and its subsidiaries are not to hold more than 5% in any company (There
current holdings to be brought down to this level over a period of time). Customer
Service LIC should pay interest on delays in payments beyond 30 days. Insurance
companies must be encouraged to set up unit linked pension plans.
Computerization of operations and updating of technology to be carried out in the
insurance industry.
Overall, the committee strongly felt that in order to improve the customer services
and increase the coverage of the insurance industry should be opened up to
competition. But at the same time, the committee felt the need to exercise caution
as any failure on the part of new players could ruin the public confidence in the
industry
 Few Life Insurance policies are:

14
Whole life policies - Cover the insured for life. The insured does not receive money
while he is alive; the nominee receives the sum assured plus bonus upon death of the
insured.

Endowment policies - Cover the insured for a specific period. The insured receives
money on survival of the term and is not covered thereafter.

Money back policies - The nominee receives money immediately on death of the
insured. On survival the insured receives money at regular intervals during the term.
These policies cost more than endowment with profit policies.

Annuities / Children's policies - The nominee receives a guaranteed amount of

money at a pre-determined time and not immediately on death of the insured. On
survival the insured receives money at the same pre-determined time. These policies
are best suited for planning children's future education and marriage costs.

Pension schemes - are policies that provide benefits to the insured only upon
retirement. If the insured dies during the term of the policy, his nominee would
receive the benefits either as a lump sum or as a pension every month. Since a single
policy cannot meet all the insurance objectives, one should have a portfolio of
policies covering all the needs

1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

“Life Insurance is a contract for payment of a sum of money to the person assured
on the happening of the event insured against”. Usually the insurance contract
provides for the payment of an amount on the date of maturity or at specified dates
at periodic intervals or at unfortunate death if it occurs earlier. Obviously, there is a
price to be paid for this benefit. Among other things the contracts also provides for
the payment of premiums, by the assured.
Life Insurance is universally acknowledged as a tool to eliminate risk, substitute
certainty for uncertainty and ensure timely aid for the family in the unfortunate

15
event of the death of the breadwinner. In other words, it is the civilized world’s
partial solution to the problems caused by death. Life insurance helps in two ways
dealing with premature death, which leaves dependent families to fend for
themselves and old age without visible means of support.
The most common types of life insurance are whole life insurance and term life
insurance. Whole life insurance provides a lifetime of protection as long as you pay
the premiums to keep the policy active. They also accrue a cash value and thus offer
a savings component. Term life insurance provides protection only during the term
of the policy and the policies are usually renewable at the end of the term.
PROFILE OF THE INDUSTRY

3.1 INDUSTRY PROFILE

History and Development of Life Insurance

Life Insurance, in its present form, came to India from the United Kingdom with
establishment of a British firm, Oriental Life Insurance Company in Calcutta in
1818, followed by Bombay Life Assurance Company in 1823, the Madras Equitable
Life Insurance society in 1829 and Oriental Government security Assurance
Company in 1874. Prior to 1871, Indian Lives were treated as sub-standard and
charged an extra premium of 15% to 20%. Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society,
a Indian insurer which came into existence in 1871 was the first to cover Indian
lives at normal rates.

The Indian life Assurance Companies Act, 1912 was the first statutory measure to
regulate life insurance business. Later, in 1928, the Indian Insurance Companies Act
was enacted, to enable the government to collect statistical information about both
life and non-life insurance business transacted in India by Indian and foreign
insurers, including the provident insurance societies. Comprehensive arrangements
were, however, brought into effect with the enactment of the Insurance Act, 1938.

By 1956, 154 Indian insurers, 16 non-Indian insurers and 15 provident societies

were carrying online insurance business in India. On 19th January 1956, the
management of the entire life insurance business of 229 Indian insurers and

16
provident insurance societies and the Indian life insurance business of 16 non-Indian
Life insurance companies then operating in India, was taken over by the central
Government and then nationalized on 1st September 1956 when the Life Insurance
Corporation came into existence.

With largest number of life insurance policies in force in the world, Insurance
happens to be a mega opportunity in India. It’s a business growing at the rate of 15-
20 per cent annually and presently is of the order of Rs 450 billion. Together with
banking services, it adds about 7 per cent to the country’s GDP. Gross premium
collection is nearly 2 per cent of GDP and funds available with LIC for investments
are 8 per cent of GDP.
Yet, nearly 80 per cent of Indian population is without life insurance cover
while health insurance and non-life insurance continues to be below international
standards. And this part of the population is also subject to weak social security and
pension systems with hardly any old age income security. This itself is an indicator
that growth potential for the insurance sector is immense.

A well-developed and evolved insurance sector is needed for economic

development as it provides long-term funds for infrastructure development and at
the same time strengthens the risk taking ability. It is estimated that over the next
ten years India would require investments of the order of one trillion US dollar. The
Insurance sector, to some extent, can enable investments in infrastructure
development to sustain economic growth of the country.

INSURANCE AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Insurance is considered as one of the important segment of the economy for its
growth and development. This industry provides long term funds which are essential
for the growth and development of the nation .so the growth of insurance industry
largely depends up on the environment in which they exists. Here I would like to
mention about Indian business environment and their impact on insurance sector.
There are two type of environment which affect the business one is environment
which is internal to the organization (internal environment) and the other one which
is external to the organization (external environment). Internal environment includes
17
management, technology, competitors, employees, shareholders, policyholders,
marketing intermediary etc. The external environment of insurance business has
been classified in four parts, namely legal, economic, financial, and commercial. let
us discus them in detail by taking one by one.

THE INSURANCE REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

(IRDA)

The Malhotra Committee felt the need to provide greater autonomy to insurance
companies in order to improve their performance and enable them to act as
independent companies with economic motives. For this purpose, it had proposed
setting up an independent regulatory body- The Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority. Based on the Malhotra committee report in April 2000
IRDA was incorporated. Since being set up as an independent statutory body the
IRDA has put in a framework of globally compatible regulations. Section 14 of the
IRDA Act 1999, lays the duties, power and functions of the authority .the authority
shall have the duty to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the insurance
business and reinsurance business.

Reforms and Implications

The liberalizations of the Indian insurance sector has been the subject of much
heated debate for some years. The sector is finally set to open up to private
competition. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority bill will clear
the way for private entry into insurance, as the government is keen to invite private
sector participation into insurance. To address those concerns, the bill requires direct
insurers to have a minimum paid-up capital of Rest. 1 billion, to invest
policyholder’s funds only in India; and to restrict international companies to a
minority equity holding of 26 percent in any new company. Indian Promoters will
also have to dilute their equity holding to 26 percent over a 10-year period.
Over the past three year, around 30 companies have expressed interest in entering
the sector and many foreign and Indian companies have arranged alliances. Whether
the insurer is old or new, private or public, expanding the market will present
challenges. A number of foreign Insurance Companies have set up representative

18
offices in India and have also tied up with various asset management companies.
Some of the Indian companies, which have tied up with International partners, are.

Indian Partners International Partners

Bombay Dyeing General Accident, UK

Tata American Int. Group, US

Dabur Group Liberty Mutual Fund, US

ICICI Prudential, UK

Sundaram Finance Winterthur Insurance, Switzerland

Hindustan Times Commercial Union, UK

Ranbaxy Cigna, US

HDFC Standard Life, UK

CK Birla Group Zurich Insurance, Switzerland

DCM Shriram Royal Sun Alliance, UK

Godrej J Rothschild , UK

M A Chidambaram Met Life

Cholamandalam Guardian Royal Exchange, UK

SK Modi Group Legal and General, Australia

20th Century Finance Canada Life

Alpic Finance Allianz Holding, Germany

Vysya Bank ING

19
 Kotak Mahindra Chubb, US

The likely impact of opening up of India’s insurance sector is that private

players may swamp the market. International insurers often derive a
significant part of their business from multinational operations. Multinational
insurers are indeed keenly interested as; perhaps there home markets are
saturated while emerging countries have low insurance penetration and high
growth rates

Type of life insurance policies

Whole life insurance

Whole life is a form of permanent insurance, with guaranteed rates and guaranteed
cash values. It is the least flexible form of permanent insurance.

Universal life insurance

Universal life is similar to whole life, except that you can change the death benefit
(the money paid to the beneficiary when the insured person dies), the amount of
premiums and how often you pay the premiums.

Variable life insurance

Variable life insurance is the riskiest form of permanent insurance, but it can also
give you the best return for your money. Essentially, the life insurance company
will invest your insurance premiums for you. If the investments do well, the death
benefit and cash value of the policy go up. If they do poorly, they go down. It's a
little like putting your savings into the stock market.

20
Group life insurance

Many companies allow their employees to buy group life insurance through the
company. Usually, you can get very good rates for this insurance but you have to
give the insurance up when you stop working there. For that reason, group insurance
can be a good way to buy a little extra life insurance, but it does not make sense to
make it your main policy.

There are a number of policies for specific insurance needs. Some of these include:

1. Family income life insurance.

This is a decreasing term policy that provides a stated income for a fixed
period of time, if the insured person dies during the term of coverage. These
payments continue until the end of a time period specified when the policy is
purchased.

2. Family insurance.

A whole life policy that insures all the members of an immediate family --
husband, wife and children. Usually the coverage is sold in units per person,
with the primary wage-earner insured for the greatest amount.

3. Senior life insurance.

Also known as graded death benefit plans, they provide for a graded amount
to be paid to the beneficiary. For example, in each of the first three to five
years after the insured dies, the death benefit slowly increases. After that
period, the entire death benefit is paid to the beneficiary. This might be
appropriate if the beneficiary is not able to handle a large amount of money
soon after the death, but would be in a better position to handle it a few
years later.

21
4. Juvenile insurance.

This is life insurance on a child. Coverage is paid for by an adult, usually the
parents or guardians. Such policies are not considered traditional life
insurance because the child is not producing an income that needs to be
protected. However, by buying the policy when the child is young, the
parents are able to lock in an extremely low premium rate and allow many
more years of tax-deferred cash value buildup
.

5. Credit life insurance.

This insurance is designed to pay off the balance of a loan if you die before
you have repaid it. Credit life insurance is available for many kinds of loans
including student loans, auto loans, farm equipment loans, furniture and
other personal loans including credit cards. Credit life insurance can be
purchased by an individual. Usually it is sold by financial institutions
making loans, like banks, to borrowers at the time they take out the loan. If a
borrower dies, the proceeds of the policy repay the loan directly to the lender
or creditor.

6. Mortgage insurance

This decreasing term coverage is designed to pay off the unpaid balance of a
mortgage if you die before the mortgage is paid off. Premiums are generally
level throughout the term of the policy. The policy is usually independent of
the mortgage, meaning that the financial institution granting the mortgage is
separate from the insurance company issuing the policy. The proceeds of the
policy are paid to the beneficiaries of the policy, not the mortgage company.
The beneficiary is not required to use the proceeds to pay off the mortgage

7. Annuity

An annuity is a form of insurance that enables you to save for your

retirement. Basically, you give the insurance company money for a certain

22
 period of time, and then after you retire they will pay you a certain amount
of money every year until you die. There are many different forms of
annuities. . Most people who buy annuities are 55 or older

3.2 PROFILE OF THE ORGANISATIONS:

LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA

Life Insurance Corporation of India was formed in September 1956 by

passing LIC Act, 1956 in Indian parliament. On the nationalization of the life
insurance in 1956, the premium rating of Oriental Government security life
Assurance company were adopted by LIC with a reduction of 5% of the
tabular premium or Re. 1 per thousand sum assured, whichever was less. This
reduction was made in anticipation of economies of scale that would emerge
on the merger of different insurers in a single entity.

Life Insurance Corporation Of India - there are many things to consider as

Life Insurance Corporation of India offers various insurance products which
are very complex, but underlying this complexity is a simple fact. The
building blocks for all Life Insurance Corporation of India are (1) investment
return; (2) mortality experience; and (3) expense management; for your Life
Insurance Corporation Of India

Objectives of LIC

• Spread Life Insurance much more widely and in particular to the rural areas
and to the socially and economically backward classes with a view to
reaching all insurable persons in the country and providing them adequate
financial cover against death at a reasonable cost.

23
 • Maximize mobilization of people's savings by making insurance-linked
savings adequately attractive.
• Bear in mind, in the investment of funds, the primary obligation to its
policyholders, whose money it holds in trust, without losing sight of the
interest of the community as a whole; the funds to be deployed to the best
advantage of the investors as well as the community as a whole, keeping in
view national priorities and obligations of attractive return.
• Conduct business with utmost economy and with the full realization that the
moneys belong to the policyholders.
• Act as trustees of the insured public in their individual and collective
capacities.

• Meet the various life insurance needs of the community that would arise in
the changing social and economic environment.
• Involve all people working in the Corporation to the best of their capability
in furthering the interests of the insured public by providing efficient service
with courtesy.
Promote amongst all agents and employees of the Corporation a sense of
participation, pride and job satisfaction through discharge of their duties with
dedication towards achievement of Corporate Objective

VISION

"A trans-nationally competitive financial conglomerate of significance to societies

and Pride of India “

24
MISSION

"Explore and enhance the quality of life of people through financial security by
providing products and services of aspired attributes with competitive returns, and
by rendering resources for economic development”

Various policies offered by life insurance corporation of India are

1) Whole Life Schemes

• Whole life with profit

• Limited payment whole life

• Single Premium whole life

• Convertible whole life plan

2) Endowment Schemes

• Endowment plan with profit

• Limited payment Endowment

• JeevanMitra (Double Cover)

• JeevanMitra (Triple cover)

• BhavishyaJeevan

• JeevanAnand

• New Jana Raksha

3) Term Assurance Plan

• AnmolJeevan

• 2 Year Term Assurance

• Covertible Term

• New BimaKiran

4) Plan for needs of Children

25
 • KomalJeevan

• JeevanSukanya

• Jeevan Kishore

• JeevanBalya

• JeevanChaya

• Marriage/educational
annuity

• Deffered Endowment

5) Periodic Money Back Plan

• JeevanSamridhi

• JeevanRekha Plan

• Money Back Plan

• JeevanSurabhi

• Jeevanbharathi

6) Medical benefits linked insurance

• Asha Deep II

• JeevanAsha II

7) For benefits to Handicapped

• JeevanAadhar

• JeevanVishwas

8) Plans to cover housing loans

• Mortagage redemption

9) Joint life plan

26
 • Jeevansathi

10) Investment plan

• BimaNivesh Triple cover

11) Capital market linked plan

• Bima plus.

Description of the LIC Policies

Whole life plan:

Whole life plan are those policies which life assured has to pay premiums till his
death the sum assured will be paid to his dependent generally 70 years is
assumed as a maximum age for payment of premium.
Under the whole life premium are payable throughout the life time of the life
assured and this is the cheapest form of policy.
This plan is ideally suited to person who wants maximum provision for his
family at minimum cost. It also meets the needs for funds required for funeral,
religious rites and ceremonies to be performed, tax liabilities if any and
expenses connected with the last sickness and hospital charges etc.

Endowment Assured Plan:

Endowment plans are not covering the risk for whole life of the life assured. The
term of risk cover under this plan is as per the need of life assured.
Endowment assurance plan are the most popular. They are eminently

Suited to meet it one policy the twin demands of old age provision and risk
cover for family. The sum assured is payable on maturity or at death if earlier.
Thus an Endowment Assurance Policy provides for retirement and also serves as
a means of family provisions.

Term Assurance

27
Under the term assurance the risk cover is generally for specific short term. Such
term assurance is maximum for 2 years. Generally this type of assurance is
useful for air traveling.

Money Back Plans

Under this plan specific percentage of sum assured will be backed to the life
assured after specific period of time. This plan is of special interest to person
who besides desiring to provide for their own old age and family feels the need
for lump sum benefits at periodical intervals. Under these policies part of the
sum assured is paid to the life assured in installments at selected intervals.
Children Plan

Under the children plans the risk on the life of the children where covered
generally this type of plans are helpful in education and marriage of the children.
JeevanBalya:

This plan is designed to enable a parent to provide for the child by payment of a
very low premium an Endowment Assurance Policy, the risk under which will
commence from the vesting date. In addition, Premium benefit and income
benefit are included as additional benefit by payment of appropriate additional
premium during the deferment period.
This policy shall be cancelled in case the life assured shall die before the
deferred dates and in such an event provided the policy is then in full force in for
a reduced cash option.
Marriage Endowment/ educational annual plan

Every father desires to see that his children are well settled in life through sound
education, leading to good jobs and happy marriage. These needs arise at ages
which can be approximately anticipated. Say when the children are between 18
to 25 year of age. This plan provides for a sum assured to keep aside to meet
marriage educational expenses of children. Under this plan the S A along with
the vested bonus shall be payable at the end of the selected term either is lump
sum or in ten half yearly installment, at the option of the life assured nominee
beneficiary.
JeevanMitra

28
 This plan provides additional insurance cover equal to the sum assured in the
even of death during the term of policy so that the total insurance cover in the
event of death is twice the basic sum assured. i.e. The basic sum assured is
doubled and the accrued bonus is also paid.

ING VYSYA LIFE INSURANCE

ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Private Limited entered the private life
insurance industry in India in September 2001, and in a short span of 18 months has
established itself as a distinctive life insurance brand with an innovative, attractive
and customer friendly product portfolio and a professional advisor force. It also
distributes products in close cooperation with its sister company ING Vysya Bank
through Bank assurance. Currently, it has over 3000 advisors working from 22
locations across the country and over 300 employees.
ING Vysya Life Insurance Company is headquartered at Bangalore and has
established a strong presence in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad
and Chennai. In addition ING Vysya Life operates in Vizag, Vijaywada, Mangalore,
Mysore, Pune, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jaipur.
ING Vysya Life has pioneered product innovations in the Indian life insurance
market with customer-oriented cash bonus endowment and money back products.
(Reassuring Life and Maximising Life), the first anticipated whole life product
(Fulfilling Life) and the first Term/Critical Illness combination product (Conquering
Life). Conquering Life is an innovative term and critical illness product that has
been launched recently. Conquering Life provides affordable term cover and critical
illness coverage for 10 critical illnesses of upto 50% of the Sum Assured. ING
Vysya Life declared a bonus in September 2002 of 5% (cash bonus - payable
immediately) and 4% (reversionary bonus - payable at the end of the term).

29
The company has over 25,000 customers at the end of 2002 and has achieved a first
premium income of Rs. 17 crores in 2002.
ING Vysya Life Insurance is a joint venture between ING Insurance International
BV a part of ING Group, the world's largest life insurance company (Fortune Global
500,
2002), ING Vysya Bank, with 1.5 million customers and over 400 outlets and GMR
Technologies and Industries Limited, part of GMR Group also based in Bangalore
and involved in the field of power generation, infrastructural development and
several other businesses.
ING Vysya Life has a paid up capital of Rs.140 crores and an authorised capital of
Rs.

200 crores.

Life insurance products offered by the company are:

1) Protection plan

• Critical illness plan

• Endowment plan

2) Savings plan

• Endowment plan

• Child protection plan

• Money back plan

3) Investment Plan

• Whole life plan

• Limited payment endowment plan

• Anticipated whole life plan

30
TATA-AIG Life Insurance

Tata-AIG Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between the Tata

Group and American International Group Inc (AIG), the leading US-based
international insurance and financial services organization and the largest
underwriter of commercial and industrial insurance in America. Its member
companies write a wide range of commercial, personal and life insurance
products through a variety of distribution channels in approximately 130
countries and jurisdictions throughout the world. AIG’s global businesses also
include financial services and asset management, including aircraft leasing,
financial products, trading and market making, consumer finance, institutional,
retail and direct investment fund asset management, real estate investment
management, and retirement savings products. TATA holds 76% shares and
AIG holds 24% shares in the total share capital of TATA AIG.

Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Ltd. "Tata AIG Life" offers a broad array
of life insurance products to individuals, associations and businesses of all sizes,
with a wide variety of additional coverage to ensure our customers can find an
insurance product to meet their needs. Tata-AIG Life Insurance and Tata-AIG
General Insurance, both joint ventures between the Tata Group and American
International Group (AIG), provide life and general insurance policies and solutions
to companies, institutions and organizations across India. It is licensed to operation
on 12th February 2001. TATA-AIG life is spread over28 branch offices and 39
training offices across the country.

Tata-AIG Life offers a broad array of life insurance products and solutions
to corporate and other organizations. These products and solutions have various
valueadded benefits and options that deliver flexibility and choice to the company's
clients. Tata AIG Life has completed its 4th year of operations and registered a
Total Premium of Rs. 497 Crores for the period April 2004 - March 2005.

31
 The company has some 20 life insurance products with over 250 product
combinations, including endowment to term, pension to group life and credit life,
money back to whole life plans, etc. Tata-AIG Life uses different distribution
channels, including direct marketing, brokerage and banc assurance, to service
client groups in 19 Indian cities.

Tata-AIG Life is the first private insurer in India to offer group retirement
schemes. Additionally, the company's group management division focuses on
providing employee benefit solutions.

PRODUCTS

The product range of TATA-AIG Life is wide-spread across different segments.

Some of the products are mentioned below.

Maha life

Invest Assure

Health Protector

Star Kid

Shubh Life

Nirvana

Nirvana Plus

Money Saver Plan

Health First

Assure Golden Life

Assure 10, 20, 30 years – Security and Growth

Assure Educate at 18, 21

Assure Career Builder Plan at 27

Assure Golden Years Plan

32
 Assure 21 Money Saver Plan

Assure 1/5/10/15/20/25 years/ to age lifelines

TROP

HDFC STANDARD LIFE INSURANCE

The Partnership:

HDFC and Standard Life first came together for a possible joint venture, to enter
the Life Insurance market, in January 1995. It was clear from the outset that both
companies shared similar values and beliefs and a strong relationship quickly
formed. In October 1995 the companies signed a 3 year joint venture agreement.
Around this time Standard Life purchased a 5% stake in HDFC, further
strengthening the relationship.
The next three years were filled with uncertainty, due to changes in government and
ongoing delays in getting the IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development
authority) Act passed in parliament. Despite this both companies remained firmly
committed to the venture.
In October 1998, the joint venture agreement was renewed and additional resource
made available. Around this time Standard Life purchased 2% of Infrastructure
Development Finance Company Ltd. (IDFC). Standard Life also started to use the
services of the HDFC Treasury department to advise them upon their investments in
India.
Towards the end of 1999, the opening of the market looked very promising and both
companies agreed the time was right to move the operation to the next level.
Therefore, in January 2000 an expert team from the UK joined a hand picked team
from HDFC to form the core project team, based in Mumbai.
Around this time Standard Life purchased a further 5% stake in HDFC and a 5%
stake in HDFC Bank.
In a further development Standard Life agreed to participate in the Asset
Management Company promoted by HDFC to enter the mutual fund market. The
Mutual Fund was launched on 20th July 2000

33
Incorporation of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited:

The company was incorporated on 14th August 2000 under the name of HDFC
Standard Life Insurance Company Limited. Companies ambition from as far back as
October 1995, was to be the first private company to re-enter the life insurance
market in India. On the 23rd of October 2000, this ambition was realized when
HDFC Standard Life was the only life company to be granted a certificate of
registration. HDFC are the main shareholders in HDFC Standard Life, with 81.4%,
while Standard Life owns 18.6%. Given Standard Life's existing investment in the
HDFC Group, this is the maximum investment allowed under current regulations.
HDFC and Standard Life have a long and close relationship built upon shared
values and trust. The ambition of HDFC Standard Life is to mirror the success of the
parent companies and be the yardstick by which all other insurance company's in
India are measured.
Products offered by the company are:

INDIVIDUAL PLAN

• With Profit Endowment Assurance

• With Profits Money Back

• Single Premium Whole of Life

• Term assurance Plan

• Loan Cover Term Assurance

• Personal Pension Plan

• Children’s Plan

GROUP PLANS

• Group Term Insurance

• Development Insurance Plan

ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

34
 ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI
Bank, a premier financial powerhouse, and prudential plc, a leading international
financial services group headquartered in the United Kingdom. ICICI Prudential
was amongst the first private sector insurance companies to begin operations in
December 2000 after receiving approval from Insurance Regulatory Development
Authority (IRDA).

ICICI Prudential’s equity base stands at Rs. 925 crore with ICICI Bank and

Prudential plc holding 74% and 26% stake respectively. In the quarter ended June
30, 2005 , the company garnered Rs 335 crore of new business premium for a total
sum assured of Rs 2,619 crore and wrote 111,522 policies. For the past four years,
ICICI Prudential has retained its position as the No. 1 private life insurer in the
country, with a wide range of flexible products that meet the needs of the Indian
customer at every step in life.

Products offered by ICICI Prudential are

1. Savings Plan

1) Smart kid

2) Life Time

3) Save ‘n’ Protect

4) Cash Bak

2. Protection plan

• Life Guard
• Extra Protection Through

• Riders

35
3. Retirement Plans

• Forever Life

• Life link pension

• Life time pension

• Reassure
4. Investment Plans

• Assure Invest

• Life Link
5. Group plans

• Group Superannuation

• Group Gratuity

• Group Term Assurance

36
 OM KOTAK MAHINDRA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

Established in 1985 as Kotak Capital Management Finance promoted by UdayKotak

the company has come a long way since its entry into corporate finance. It has
dabbled in leasing, auto finance, hire purchase, investment banking, consumer
finance, broking etc. The company got its name Kotak Mahindra as industrialists
Harish Mahindra and Anand Mahindra picked a stake in the company. Kotak
Mahindra is today one of India's leading Financial Institutions

Old Mutual plc is an international financial services group based in London

with expanding operations in life assurance, asset management, banking and general
insurance. Old Mutual is listed on the London Stock Exchange (where it is included
on the FTSE 100 Index) and also on the South African, Namibian, Malawi and
Zimbabwe stock exchanges. It has 156 years of experience in the life insurance
business. The
Products offered by the Company are

Individual Plan

• Kotak Endowment Plan

• Kotak Term Plan

• Kotak Retirement Income Plan

• Kotak Child Advantage Plan

• Kotak Preferred Term Plan

• Kotak Capital Multiplier Plan

• Kotak Safe Investment Plan

• Riders

• Exclusions Under Riders

37
Group Plan

Kotak Term Group plan

Kotak Gratuity Group plan

Kotak Credit Term Group plan

Riders

Exclusions Under Riders

Rural

KotakGraminaBimaYojana

MET LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

38
MetLife
For almost 137 years, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company has been insuring the
lives of the people who depend on them. Their success is based on their long
history of social responsibility, strong leadership, sound investments, and innovative
products and services.
MetLife Begins

The origins of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) go back to 1863,

when a group of New York City businessmen raised $100,000 to found the National
Union Life and
Helping and Healing People

In 1909, MetLife Vice President Haley Fiske announced that "insurance, not merely
as a business proposition, but as a social program" would be the future policy of the
company
Supporting Country and Community

Over the years, MetLife has made a difference by supporting urban renewal projects
and community financing. The company's social commitment and its commitment
to the security of its policyholders have proven to be good business.
MetLife Today In 2001 MetLife was the first insurance company to establish a
financial holding company with a nationally chartered bank.

Products Offered by the company are

1) Whole Life

• Met 100 Non par

• Met 100 Gold par

• Met 100 Platinum par

2) Endowment

39
 • Met Gold par

• Met Platinum par

• Met Junior par

• Met junior Non par

3) Money Back

• Met Sukh

• Met Junior MB

4) Term

• Met Mortagage Protector

• Met Riders

• Accidental death

40
BIRLA SUN LIFE INSURANCE COMANY LIMITED

Birla Sun Life Financial Services offers a range of financial services for resident
Indians and Non Resident Indians. Brought together by two large, powerful and
reputed business houses, the Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial , it is our
aim to offer diverse and top quality financial services to customers. The Mutual
Fund and Insurance companies provide wealth management and protection products
to customers while the Distribution and Securities companies provide brokerage and
trading services for investment in equities, debt securities, fixed deposits, etc.
Insurance is not about something going wrong. It's often about things going right.
One of the wonders of human nature is that we never believe anything can actually
go wrong. Surely, life has its share of ifs. At Birla Sun Life however, they believe it
has its equally pleasant share of buts as well. Birla Sun Life stand committed to
help you realize those happy moments which make a life. Be it living the same
lifestyle in your post retirement days or providing a secure future for your loved
ones, in case something happens to you. The life insurance products offered by the
company are
Individual life

• Premium Back Term Plan

• Flexi Secure Life Retirement Plan

• Single Premium Bond

• Birla Sun Life Term Plan

• Flexi Life Line Whole Life Plan

• Flexi Cash Flow Money back Plan

Group Life

41
 • Pro Group Term Insurance

• Group Superannuation Plan

• Group Gratuity Plan

MAX NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LTD.

Max New York Life today emerged as the country's leading private life insurance
company having recorded a sum assured of over Rs 2100 crore for the year ending
March 31, 2002. This was the first full year of operations for Max New York Life.

The company has sold over 64,000 policies in the last financial year. The total
annualized first year premium for the financial year was over Rs 43 crore with the
First Year Premium Income amounting to over Rs 38 crore. This has exceeded the
expectations of the company and the projections as submitted to IRDA. Over 70 per
cent of the premia income was from protection-oriented Whole Life Policies, which
reinforces the company's focus on providing the true value of life insurance to the
customer

Given the better-than-expected performance of the company, the shareholders have

increased their investment in the company to Rs 250 crore with an authorized share
capital to Rs 300 crore making Max New York Life Insurance Company among the
highest capitalized life insurance companies in India
Max New York Life also met its commitment for the rural and social sectors.

The company has 11 offices, over 1900 Agent Advisors and over 490 employees.
Max New York Life believes in delivering top value to all its stakeholders. As part
of the best practices adopted, the Company instituted satisfaction survey's conducted
by independent agencies to measure the satisfaction levels of its customers, agents
and employees. Max

42
New York Life has clearly emerged as delivering top value across all these
stakeholders

Max New York Life offers a suite of flexible products. It has eight base products
and nine options & riders that can be customized to over 250 combinations enabling
customers to choose the policy that best fits their need
The products are – Whole Life
Participating d Convertible
Whole Life-Non-Participating,

Children Endowment at age 18,

Children Endowment at age 24,

20-year Endowment Participating Policy,

Endowment to age 60,

Five-year Term Renewable an,

Easy Term

43
BAJAJ ALLIANZ LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED

Bajaj Allianz life Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between

Bajaj Auto Limited and Allianz AG of Germany. Both enjoy a reputation of
expertise, stability and strength. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance received the
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) certificate of Registration
(R3) on May 2nd, 2001 to conduct General Insurance business (including Health
Insurance business) in India. The Company has an authorized and paid up capital of
Rs 110 crores. Bajaj Auto holds 74% and Allianz, AG, holds the remaining 26%
Germany.

In its first year of operations, the company has acquired the No. 1 status
among the private non-life insurers. As on 31st March 2003, Bajaj Allianz General
Insurance maintained its leadership position by garnering a premium income of
Rs.300 Crores. Bajaj Allianz also became one of the few companies to make a profit

44
in its first full year of operations. Bajaj Allianz made a profit after tax of Rs.9.6
crores

Bajaj Allianz today has a network of 42 offices spread across the length and
breadth of the country. From Surat to Siliguri and Jammu to Thiruvananthapuram,
all the offices are interconnected with the Head Office at Pune.

In the first half of the current financial year, 2004-05, Bajaj Allianz garnered
a premium income of Rs. 405 crores, achieving a growth of 84% and registered a
52% growth in Net profits of Rs.20 Crores over the last year for the same period. In
the financial year 2003-04, the premium earned was Rs.480 Crores, which is a jump
of 60% and the profit zoomed by 125% to Rs. 21.6 Crores

45
 CHAPTER 2

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH DESIGN

2.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This Study will help us to understand the consumer’s perception about life
insurance companies. This study will help the companies to understand, how a
consumer selects, organizes and interprets the Quality of service and product
offered by life insurance companies.

2.2 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study is limited to the consumers within the limit of Bangalore city.

The study will be able to reveal the preferences, needs, perception of the
customers regarding the life insurance products, It also help the insurance
companies to know whether the existing products are really satisfying the
customers needs .

2.3 NEED FOR THE STUDY

1) The deeper the understanding of consumer’s needs and perception, the

earlier the product is introduced ahead of competitors, the expected
contribution margin will be greater .Hence the study is very important.
2) Consumer markets and consumer buying behavior can be understood
before sound product and marketing plans are developed
3) This study will help companies to customize the service and product,
according to the consumer’s need.
4) This study will also help the companies to understand the experience
and expectations of the existing customers.
5) Apart from creating, manufacturing and distribution capabilities for life
insurance products, an in depth study of the consumers, their

46
 preferences and demand for their product is very necessary for setting
up an efficient marketing network.

2.4 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

o Ascertain the profile and characteristics of potential buyers.

o To have an insight into the attitudes and behaviors of customers.

o To find out the differences among perceived service and expected

service

o To produce an executive service report to upgrade service characteristics

of life insurance companies.

o To access the degree of satisfaction of the consumers with their current

brand of Insurance products.

2.6 RESEARCH DESIGN:

A research design is a basic plan, which guides the researcher in the collection and
analysis of data required for practicing the research. Infect the research design is the
conceptual structure where the research is conducted. It constitutes the ‘Blue Print’
for the collection, measurement and analysis of the data. The study is carried out to
understand the Consumer Perception about life insurance companies in Bangalore
city .For this study the researcher used exploratory research design. This research
covers 50 consumers in Bangalore city, belonging to various age groups.

2.7 SAMPLE DESIGN:

The process of drawing a sample from a large population is called sampling.

Population refers to the total of items about which information is defined. Well-
selected samples may reflect fairly and accurately the characteristics of the
population.

47
Sampling Unit:

The sample unit of this survey was the customers having life insurance policies in
Bangalore city.
Sample Size:

The sample size was 50 customers of different life insurance companies, from the
various parts of the Bangalore city.
Sampling Technique Adopted:

Convenient sampling

2.8 SOURCES OF DATA:

After identifying and defining the research problem and determining specific
information required to solve the problem the researcher will look for the type and
sources of data which may yield the desired results, while deciding about the
method of data collection to be used for the study, there are two types of data.

Secondary Data:

Secondary data means data that are already available i.e. they refer to the data which
have been collected and analyzed by someone and can save both money and time of
the researcher. Secondary data may be available in the form of company records,
trade publications, libraries etc. Secondary data sources are as follows:
Company Reports

Daily Newspaper

Standard Textbook

Various Websites

Primary Data:

Primary data are those, which are collected for the first time. Primary data is
collected by framing questionnaires. The questionnaire contained questions, which
are both openended and closed-ended. Open-ended questions are questions

48
requiring answers in the responder’s own words. Closed-ended questions are those
wherein the respondent has to merely check the appropriate answer from a list of
options available. Any doubts raised by the respondents were clarified to get the
perfect answers from the distributors. Openended questions yielded more insightful
information, whereas closed-Ended questions were relatively simple to tabulate and
analyze.

2.9 FIELD WORK:

An interview-schedule and well-structured questionnaire is administered to the

target respondents to collect primary data (Copy of questionnaire is attached in the
appendix) Open and close-ended questions are used in the questionnaire. The orders
of the questions are in such a manner that they begin with simple questions and lead
on the questions that needed more involvement from respondents.The secondary
data are collected from periodicals, magazines, journals and Internet.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF THE STUDY

Marketing:

Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and group obtain
what they need and want through creating, offering and exchanging products of
value with others
.

Marketing Management:

Marketing Management is the process of planning and executing the conception,

pricing, promotion and distribution of individual and organizational goals.

Marketing Research:

49
Marketing research is the systematic and objective search for, and analysis of
information relevant to the identification and solution of any problems in the field of
marketing.

Consumer Research:

Consumer research is the methodology used to study consumer behaviour.

Consumer Behaviour:

Consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals make decisions to spend their
available resources [time, money, efforts] on consumption related items
.

Market Segmentation:

Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market in the distinct subsets of

consumer with common needs or characteristics and selecting one or more segments
to target with distinct marketing mix.

Positioning:

Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image so that they
occupy a meaningful and distinct competitive position in the target consumer’s
mind.

Perception:

Perception is the process by which an individual selects, organizes, and interprets

information input to create a meaningful picture of the world. For a marketer to
influence a motivated buyer to buy their products rather than competitors they must
be careful to take the perception process into account while designing their
marketing campaigns.
Perception therefore influence what product consumer buys.

Attitude:

50
An attitude is a person enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluation, emotional
feeling, and action tendencies towards some object or idea.

Attributes:

Attributes are the strengths and weaknesses of a brand that create attitudes and are
used by consumers to choose between brands that are relatively similar or
functionally equivalent.

Values:

A value is a concept of the desirable. An internalized standard of evaluation a

person possession. This standard determines or guide an individual evaluation of the
many objects encountered in everyday life.

Brand:

A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design or a combination of them, used to

identify the goods or services of one seller or group of seller and the differentiate
them from those of competitors.

2.10 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Although the study was carried out with extreme enthusiasm and careful planning
there are several limitations, which handicapped the research viz.

Time Constraints:

The time stipulated for the project to be completed is less and thus there are chances
that some information might have been left out, however due care is taken to
include all the relevant information needed.

Sample size:

51
Due to time constraints the sample size was relatively small and would definitely
have been more representative if I had collected information from more respondents
.

Accuracy:

It is difficult to know if all the respondents gave accurate information; some

respondents tend to give misleading information.

52
 CHAPTER 3

2.5. REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

The literature review section critically examine the recent or historically significant
studies, company data or industry reports that acts as a basis for proposed studies to
begin with the research discussion of the related literature and relevant secondary
data from a comprehensive prospective, moving to more specific studies, that are
associate with research problem. Basically the literature should be applied to the
study, than the researcher proposes. The literature may also explain the needs for the
proposed work to appraise the short comings and informational gaps in secondary
data sources.
To carry the research work the researcher has gone through a few reports,
books, journals and websites. The details regarding Life Insurance Industry, history,
origin and growth of the industry is also taken from some books, magazines etc. The
sources of this information are as follows:
Catalogues and Broachers from various life insurance companies.

Articles from magazines and news paper.

Information from various websites.

53
 CHAPTER 4

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.1 INTRODUCTION TO ANALYSIS:

In order to extract meaningful information from the data them. The analysis
can be conducted by using simple statistical tools like percentages, averages
and measures of dispersion. Alternatively the collected data may be analyzed,
the data analysis is carried out. The data are first edited, coded and tabulated
for analyzing by using diagrams, graphs, charts, pictures etc. Data analysis is
the process of planning the data in an ordered form, combining them with the
existing information and extracting from them.

Interpretation is the process of drawing conclusions from the gathered data in

the study. In this research the researcher has analyzed the data using
percentages and graphs.

4.2 DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS USED:

In this research the data analysis tools used are percentages and graphs. The
various attributes were analyzed separately and the importance to each was
calculated on the basis of the percentage. The rank having the maximum
percentage was taken to be preferred importance to the particular attribute.
After looking at each attribute separately, all the attributes were considered
together to develop a map on the most preferred rank for all the attributes.

54
 TABLE 1
AGE OF RESPONDENTS
NUMBER PERCENTAGE
SL.NO AGE IN YEARS OF OF
RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

1. 19 – 28 24 48 %

2. 29 – 38 13 26 %

3. 39 – 48 6 12 %

4. 49 – 58 6 12 %

5. 59 – 68 0 0%

6. 69 – 78 1 2%

TOTAL 50 100 %

SOURCE :- SURVEY DATA

60%

48 %
50%

40%
26 %

30%
12 % 12 %

20%
2%
0%

19- 28 29 - 38 39 - 48 49 - 58 59- 68 69 - 78

YRS YRS YRS YRS YRS YRS

INFERENCE: The above table classified the respondents according to their age
group. The majority of the respondents belong to the age group 19 to 28 years with
48% and the second age group is 29 to 38 years with 26%, followed by 39 to 48 years
and 49 to 58 years with 12% each.

55
TABLE 2: DIFFERENCIATION OF THE RESPONDENTS INTO MALE AND
FEMALE

TYPES OF NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF

RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

MALE RESPONDENTS 34 68%

FEMALE RESPONDENTS 16 32%

TOTAL 50 100 %

SOURCE: - SURVEY DATA

80 %
70 % 68 %

60 %
50 %
40 %
32 %
30 %
20 %
10 %
0%
NT S NTS
NDE NDE
PO SP O
RES RE
AL E AL E
M EM
F
INFERENCE: This table helps us to understand that there are more number of
male consumers with 68% market share than the female consumers with 32%
Market share.

56
TABLE 3: DIFFERENCIATION OF RESPONDENTS BASED ON THEIR
OCCUPATION

SL.NO OCCUPATION NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF

RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

1. STUDENTS 2 4%

2. GOVERNMENT 20 40 %
EMPLOYEES

3. PRIVATE 24 48 %
EMPLOYEES

4. HOUSE WIVES 2 4%

5. RETIRED 2 4%
PERSONS

TOTAL 50 100 %

57
SOURCE :- SURVEY DATA
60 %

50 % 48 %

40 %
40 %

30 %

20 %

10 %
4% 4% 4%

0%
TS OYEES ES VE S ERSONS
UDEN WI
ST EMPL
PRIVATEEMPLOYE HOUSE P
ETIRED
NMENT
R
GOVER

INFERENCE: It could be inferred that majority of consumers of life insurance

policies are private employees with 48% and Government employees with 40%,
followed by students, house wives and retired persons with 4 % each.

58
TABLE 4: TABLE SHOWING INCOME GROUP OF RESPONDENTS

SL.NO INCOME NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF

GROUP RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

1. LESS THAN 5 10 %
5000

2. 5001 – 10,000 16 32 %

3. 10001 – 15000 17 34 %

4. 15001 – 20000 8 16 %

5. 20001 – 25000 2 4%

6. GREATER 1 2%
THAN 30000

7. NIL 1 2%

TOTAL 50 100 %

SOURCE: - SURVEY DATA

59
 40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%
<5000 5001- 10001- 15001- 20001- >25000 NIL
0%

1000 15000 20000 25000

INFERENCE: The majority of dominant income group having life insurance

policies belong to the income group of 10,001 to 15,000, which is middle class
group. Followed by the income group of 5,001 to 10,000.

60
TABLE 5 : DIFFERENCIATION OF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING TO THE
ASSETS OWNED

SL.NO ASSETS NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF

RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

1. HOUSE 19 38 %

2. TWO 25 50 %
WHEELER

3. CAR 6 12 %

TOTAL 50 100 %

61
SOURCE: - SURVEY DATA

60%

50 %
50%

38 %
40%

30%

20%
12 %

10%

HOUSE TWO CAR

0

WHEELER

INFERENCE: This table helps us to know that most of consumers with life
insurance policies own two wheelers with 50%, 38% of consumers own house
and12% of the consumers own car

62
TABLE 6

MARKET SHARE OF DIFFERENT LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES

COMPANIES NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF

RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

LIC 39 78 %

TATA AIG 1 2%

HDFC 3 6%

ICICI 4 8%

MAX NEWYORK 1 2%

KOTAK MAHINDRA 1 2%

ALLIANCE BAJAJ 1 2%

63
SOURCE: - SURVEY DATA

90%
78%
80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%
6% 8%
10%
2% 2% 2% 2%
0%
I J
LIC
TATAAIG FC C IC R
K
JA
HD I YO
KOTAKMAHINDRA CEBA
XNEW
N
A L IA
M
AL

INFERENCE: This table helps us to understand the market share of different life
insurance companies. LIC has a major share of 78 %, followed by ICICI Prudential
with 8% market share, followed by HDFC Standard Life with 6% market share

64
TABLE 7

TABLE SHOWING ATTRIBUTES FROM RESPONDENTS

SL.NO ATTRIBUTE RESPONDENTS RANK

1. RETURN ON 17 1
INVESTMENT

2. COMPANY 13 2
REPUTATION

3. PREMIUM 10 3
OUTFLOW

4. SERVICE 7 4
QUALITY

5. PRODUCT 3 5
QUALITY

SOURCE :- SURVEY DATA

65
GRAPH 7

GRAPH SHOWING ATTRIBUTES FROM RESPONDENTS

18 17

16

14 13

12
10
10

8 7

4 3

0
N
NT O O
W ITY LITY
E ATI FL AL A
M T
EST UT OU QU
REP CE PRODUCTQU
PREMIUM VI
TURNONINV NY R
A SE
P
OM
E C
R

INFERENCE: This table shows the strengths and weaknesses of the company, and
what are the important criteria or attributes on which decision making is done. From
this table we can infer that consumers give more importance for Return on
investment, secondly they prefer company reputation, and then premium outflow
followed by service quality and product quality.

66
TABLE 8 : FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCED TO SELECT LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANY

SL.NO FACTORS RESPONDENTS RANK

1. PERSONAL INTEREST 25 1

2. FAMILY 11 2

3. FRIENDS 6 3

4. AGENTS 5 4

5. ADVERTISEMENT 2 5

6. OTHERS 1 6

SOURCE :- SURVEY DATA

67
GRAPH 8 : FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCED TO SELECT A LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANY

30

25
25

20

15

11

10

6
5
5
2
1

0
ST NDS S
E FAMILY T SEMENT THERS
E AGEN
ONALINTER FRI O
I
ERT
ADV
S
PER

INFERENCE: This table is helpful in knowing which media is best suitable for
promoting a life insurance company. It can be seen that personal factor influences a
consumers to select a life insurance company, followed by family, friends , agents
and advertisements.

68
TABLE 9 : VALUE OF RESPONDENTS LIFE INSURANCE POLICY

SL.NO AMOUNT NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF

RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

1. < 10000 0 0%

2. 10000 – 25000 5 10 %

3. 25000 – 50000 8 16 %

4. 50000-100000 15 30 %

5. > 100000 22 44 %

SOURCE :- SURVEY DATA

69
GRAPH 9 : VALUE OF RESPONDENTS LIFE INSURANCE POLICY
50%
44%
45%

40%
30%
35%

30%

25% 16%

10%
20%

15%
0%
10%

5%

0%
> 10000 10000 - 25000 - 50000 - > 100000
25000 50000 100000

INFERENCE: It can be inferred that majority of consumers buy the life

insurance policy which costs more than Rs. 1,00,000 followed by Rs.
50,000 to Rs.1,00,000, followed by Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000.

70
TABLE 10 : RESPONDENTS PREFERENCE TO INVEST THEIR MONEY

NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

INSURANCECOMPANY 24 48 %

BANK 26 52 %

TOTAL 50 100 %

SOURCE :- SURVEY DATA

53%

52%
52%

51%

50%

49% 48%

48%

47%
INSURACE BANK

46%

COMPANY

INFERENCE: From the table it is clear that majority of people (52%) prefer to
invest in Bank and others (48%) prefer to invest in Insurance companies.

71
TABLE 11 : SATISFACTION OF RESPONDENTS WITH CURRENT LIFE
INSURANCE COMPANY

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF

RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

YES 47 94 %

NO 3 6%

TOTAL 50 100 %

SOURCE :- SURVEY DATA

72
GRAPH 11 :

SATISFACTION OF RESPONDENTS WITH CURRENT LIFE INSURANCE

COMPANY
100% 94%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%
6%

20%
YES NO
10%
0%

INFERENCE: From this table it could be inferred that 94% of the

consumers are satisfied with the service and quality of products of
their life insurance companies. Only 6% of consumers are not
satisfied.

73
TABLE 12

RATINGS OF THE SERVICES OFFERED BY THE RESPONDENT’S LIFE

INSURANCE COMPANY

RATINGS NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF

RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

EXCELLENT 7 14 %

VERY GOOD 12 24 %

GOOD 20 40 %

AVERAGE 11 22 %

POOR 0 0%

TOTAL 50 100 %

SOURCE: - SURVEY DATA

74
GRAPH 12

RATINGS OF THE SERVICES OFFERED BY THE RESPONDENT’S LIFE

INSURANCE COMPANY

45%
40%
40%
35%
30%
24%
25% 22%
20%
14%
15%
10%
5%
0%
0%
OOD VERAGE OOR
XCELLENT ERYGOOD
G P
A
E V

INFERENCE: From this table it could be inferred that 40% of the consumers have
rated service offered as good, 24% of them have rated them as very good, 22% of
them have rated as average and 14% of them have rated as excellent.

75
TABLE 13

CONSUMERS WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE THE SERVICE OFFERED

BY THEIR LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

RESPONSES NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF

RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

YES 39 78 %

NO 11 22 %

TOTAL 50 100 %

SOURCE :- SURVEY DATA

76
GRAPH 13

CONSUMERS WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE THE SERVICE OFFERED

BY THEIR LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

90%
78%
80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30% 22%
20%

10%
0%
YES NO
INFERENCE: From this table it can be noted that the majority of consumers (78%)
would like to communicate to others about the service offered by life insurance
companies and 22% of consumers would not like to communicate the service
offered.

77
TABLE 14

NUMBER OF LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY KNOWN BY RESPONDENTS

NUMBER OF LIFE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF

INSURANCE RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS
COMPANY KNOWN

<5 18 36 %

5–7 29 58 %

8 – 10 2 4%

>10 1 2%

TOTAL 50 100 %

SOURCE :- SURVEY DATA

78
GRAPH 14

NUMBER OF LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY KNOWN BY RESPONDENTS

70%

60% 58%

50%

40% 36%

30%

20%

10%
4%
2%
0%
<5 5TO 7 8to 10 > 10

INFERENCE: This table helps us to know the consumer awareness about

the life insurance companies. 58% of the consumers are aware about 5 to 7
life insurance companies, followed by 36% consumers who know less than
5 life insurance companies.

79
TABLE 15
SCORES OF DIFFERENT LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES

COMPANIES SCORES RANK

LIC 345 1

ICICI PRUDENTIAL 211 2

HDFC 194 3

TATA AIG 123 4

ING VYSYA 121 5

BIRLA SUNLIFE 118 6

MET LIFE 90 7

OTHERS 41 8

SOURCE:- SURVEY DATA

80
GRAPH 15

SCORES OF DIFFERENT LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES

9
8
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1

0
G E
LIC C
DF ATAAI
YA
IF FE HERS
UDENTIAL YS L LI
H SUN
GV MET OT
T N
R I RLA
ICIP BI
C
I

INFERENCE: From the table we can rank the life insurance companies, LIC stands
first, followed by ICICI Prudential followed by HDFC Standard life, followed by
TATA AIG.

81
 16. What Kind of Investment do you prefer?

OPTION RESPONSE PERCENTAGE (%)

SHORT TERM 13 26%

LONG TERM 20 40%

BOTH 17 34%

TOTAL 50 100%

PERCENTAGE (%)
45%

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
SHORT TERM LONG TERM BOTH

INTERPRETATION

As shown in the figure the people who invest their money in LIC company has prefer
to the long-term investment as LIC has the more returns in the long-term policy. After
long term the people go for the both short term as well as long term.

82
 17. If you buy a new policy would you like to go for LIC?

OPTION RESPONSE PERCENTAGE (%)

YES 35 70%

NO 15 30%

TOTAL 50 100%

PERCENTAGE (%)
80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
YES NO

INTERPRETATION

The figure shows that the if the exciting policy holder of the LIC goes for the new
policy then most of them will choose the LIC company to invest again and few will
go in other company

83
 18. The decision to purchase life insurance policies is very important?

OPTION RESPONSE PERCENTAGE (%)

STRONGLY AGREE 22 44%

AGREE 18 36%

NOT DECIDED 8 16%

DISAGREE 2 4%

STRONGLY DISAGREE 0 0%

TOTAL 50 100%

PERCENTAGE (%)
50%

45%

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NOT DECIDED DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE

INTERPRETATION

From the above bar graph, we came to know that 44% of people are strongly agree
and 36% of people are agree while 16% of people yet not decided that the purchasing
of live insurance policy is important.

84
 19. Do you think that risk coverage is equally important as return from your
investment?

OPTION RESPONSE PERCENTAGE%

YES 35 70%

NO 15 30%

TOTAL 50 100%

PERCENTAGE%
80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
YES NO

INTERPRETATION

From the survey we came to know that 70% of people think that the risk coverage is
equally important as much as return from the investment

85
 20. What is Overall perception about LIC of India

OPTION RESPONSE PERCENTAGE%

POSITIVE 45 90%

NEGATIVE 5 10%

TOTAL 50 100%

PERCENTAGE%
100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
POSITIVE NEGATIVE

INTERPRETATION

From the given information we came to know that 90% of people says that their
overall perception is positive about LIC of India.

86
 CONCLUSION

An Insurance policy is an investment oriented plan. As compared to other

investment plans, the investment portfolio of the Insurance Policy functions like a
mutual fund and other investment. It is invested in a portfolio of debt and equity
instruments, in conformity with the announced investment policy. Hence it grows or
erodes in line with the performance of that portfolio.

From this study it reveals that the consumer’s attitude towards Insurance Policy and
Insurance Company changed a lot. A 5 years before the consumers and the general
public were not interested to take an Insurance Policy but now days there are many
options and choices in front of the customers. They are interested to take high return
policies in order to secure their lives. People are aware of all the benefits and returns
of insurance policies.
As a result of this new international and domestic companies are coming to the
Indian

Market.

Since there are many players in the Indian Insurance Market the competition level is
very high. So the companies are introducing new schemes. From this it is found that
The LIC is the major market share holder in the insurance field. Even if there are
many players in this field still it is an untapped market. Only a few portion of Indian
population is insured.

87
 FINDINGS & SUGGESTIONS

5.1 FINDINGS

The majority of respondents belonged to the age group of 19 to 28

years which formed 48% followed by age group of 29 to 38 years
which formed 26%.

The male consumers capture the Market share with 68%, followed
by the female consumers with 32%.

The majority of the consumers of life insurance companies are

private employees with 48% and Government employees with
40%

The dominant income group having life insurance group belong to

the group of 10001 to 15,000 followed by 5,001 to 10,000.

LIC has a major market share of 78%.

The factors which influenced to select a life insurance company is

the personal factor, followed by family, friends, agents and
advertisements.

The value of respondents life insurance policy costs more than

1, 00,000 followed by 50,000 to 1,00,000.

88
 Majority of the people (52%) prefer to invest in bank others (48%)
prefer to invest in insurance company.

Majority of consumers are satisfied with the service and quality of

products of their life insurance companies.

Majority of consumers (78%) would like to communicate the

service offered by life insurance companies.

Majority of consumers (58%) are aware about 5 to 7 life insurance

companies.

LIC stands first followed by ICICI prudential, followed by HDFC

Standard Life.

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

With regard to insurance companies, consumers respond at different rates,

depending on the consumers characteristics. Hence Insurance companies should try
to bring their new product to the attention of potential early adopters.

a) Due to the intense competition in the life insurance market, the life insurance
companies have to adopt better strategies to attract more customers.

b) Keeping the cost, quality and return on investment in tact is necessary in

order to tackle the competition.
89
c) Life insurance products are taken mainly by middle and higher income
group. Hence they should be regarded as maim targeted income groups. Life
insurance products which are suitable for lower income group should also be
released so that the market share increases.

d) Return on investment, company reputation and premium outflow are most

preferred attributes that are expected by the respondents. Hence greater
focus should be given to these attributes.

e) Private life insurance companies should adopt effective promotional

strategies to increase the awareness level among the consumers.

f) Life insurance companies should ask for their consumer feedback to know
whether the consumers are really satisfied or dissatisfied with the service
and product of the companies. If they are dissatisfied , then the reasons for
dissatisfaction should be found out and should be corrected in future.

g) The LIC brand name has earned a lot of goodwill and enjoys a high brand
equity. As there is intense competition in life insurance market, LIC should
work hard to maintain its top position and offer better service and product.

90
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Dr. Singh, Avtar, Principles of Insurance Law, S Chand & Sons,

Delhi,2003.

2) Leon G. Schiffman, Lestie Lazar Kanwk, Consumer Behaviour, Himalaya

Publishers, Delhi,2004

3) Kotler Philip, Marketing Management, Pearson Education Inc. 11th

Edition.

4) Stanton William J, Etzel Michael J, Walker Bruce J, Fundamentals of

Marketing, McGraw-Hill international, Singapore, 2002

5) Ravi Shankar, Services Marketing, Prentice Hall, 2000.

6) Valarie Azithaml, Marry Jo Bittner, Services of Marketing, Prentice Hall,

2001

7) Rutchnee .T &K.S.ArunKumar,Consumer preference & buying perception

of ready made silk garments,PGDSM,International center for training &
research in tropical sericulture,
Newspapers:

• Economic Times

• Business Line

91
World Wide Web:

• www.lic.com

• www.irda.org

• www.wikipedia.com

92
QUESTIONNAIRE

A STUDY CONDUCTED TO UNDERSTAND THE CONSUMER’S

PERCEPTION ABOUT LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES

1. Name :

2. Age:

3. Occupation:

4. Monthly income:

<5000 5001-10,000 10,000-15,000

15,001-20000 20,001-25,000 >25,000

Nil

5. Do You Own ?

House Two Wheeler Car

6.
7. What factors do you consider while selecting a life insurance
company?

Premium Outflow Company Reputation

Service Quality Product Quality

93
 Return on Investment
8. What factors influenced to select a Life Insurance company?

Personal interest Friends Family Agents

Advertisements others

9. What is the value of your life insurance?

>10,000 10,000-25,000 25,000-50,000 50,000-

1,00,000>1,00,000

10. Do you prefer to invest your money in a Insurance company or in a

Bank?

Insurance Company Bank

11. Are you satisfied with your current Life Insurance Company?

Yes No

12. How do you rate the service offered by your Life Insurance Company?

Excellent Very Good Good Average Poor

13. Would you like to communicate the service offered by your Life
Insurance Company to others?

Yes No

94
 14. How many Life insurance Compannies do you know?

<5 5-7 8-10 >10

15. How do you rate the following Life Insurance Companies?

LIC
HDFC
ING VYSYA
MET LIFE INDIA INSURANCE
BIRLA SUNLIFE
ICICI Prudential
TATA AIG
Others

16. What kind of Investment do you prefer?

a) Short term
b) Long term
c) Both

17. If you buy a new policy would you like to go for LIC?

a) Yes
b) No

95
 18. The decision to purchase life insurance policies is very
important?

a) Strongly Agree
b) Agree
c) Not Decided
d) Disagree
e) Strongly Disagree

19. Do you think that risk coverage is equally important as return

from your investment?

a) Yes
b) No

20. What is overall perception about LIC of India?

a) Positive b) Negative

96