Every asset has a value and the protection of the economic value of an asset is called insurance. It is basically a way of protection against the financial losses.
India is the world's fifth largest life insurance market, growing at a rapid pace of 32-34% annually. It is worth a massive $41 billion and set to keep growing at an exponential rate in years to come.
The insurance business can be divided into two categories:-
Life Insurance
General Insurance
Life Insurance:- It is a contract, in which policy holder agrees to pay an amount of money after fixed intervals to the insurer. In return, the insurer will pay an amount of money that is a number of times more than what the policy holder have paid, on the event of policy holder's death or terminal illness.
General insurance:- Insurance other than life insurance is called General Insurance. It includes the insurance of property against fire, burglary etc., motor vehicle insurance, personal insurance i.e. accident and health insurance etc.
1.2 History of Life-Insurance in India
In India, Oriental Life Insurance Company Ltd. was the first life insurance company that started its operations in Kolkata in 1818. It was established by the British. But all the insurance companies at that time were serving the European community and Indians were not being insured. In 1870, the first Indian insurance company named Bombay Mutual Assurance Society Ltd. was established in Mumbai. Then came Bharat Insurance Co. in 1896 in Delhi, The Empire of India in 1897 in Mumbai, The United India in Chennai and the Hindustan cooperative in Kolkata. These companies were also providing life coverage to the Indian natives at normal rates.
Before 1912, insurance business in India was running without any regulatory body. In 1912, Indian Life Assurance Companies act was introduced in order to regulate the insurance companies. But the act turned as a disadvantage to the Indian companies, as it discriminated between Indian and foreign companies on many parameters. A number of small changes were made to this act until the Insurance Act in 1938 was formed. It governed both Life and Non-life insurance business.
The insurance business at that time was totally concentrated on the urban area and that too covered the high-society people which led the Indian government to nationalize the insurance industry. On the 19th of January, 1956 the life insurance business in India was nationalized. At that time, there were 170 insurance companies out of which 154 were Indian insurance companies and 16 were non-Indian and 75 provident funds societies were also transacting life insurance business. On 19th June, 1956, Life Insurance Corporation Act was passed by the parliament of India and on 1st September, 1956, nationalization got completed that merged all these companies into one nationalized company called Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
1.3 The Scenario Today:
Today, insurance has become a big business. The insurance industry which only had LIC as the sole player few years back has become a very competitive market today. There are a number of companies which are providing insurance coverage to their customers. Now, the customers also have the independence to select an insurance company of their choice rather than sticking to LIC.
At present there is one life-insurance company which is completely held by the government i.e LIC, and it is still the largest. Apart from LIC, there are a large number of private players in this market. List of private insurance companies in India as of now are as follows:
Sr. No.
Name of the Company
Year of registration
1
HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd..
2000-2001
2
Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd..
2000-2001
3
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. ltd.
2000-2001
4
Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd.
2000-2001
5
Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
2000-2001
6
Tata AIG Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
2000-2001
7
SBI Life Insurance Company ltd.
2000-2001
8
ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Pvt. Ltd.
2001-2002
9
Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
2001-2002
10
Metlife India Insurance Company Ltd..
2001-2002
11
Reliance Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
2001-2002
12
Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Pvt. Lyd..
2002-2003
13
Sahara India Insurance Co. Ltd.
2003-2004
14
Shriram Life Insurance Company Ltd.
2004-2005
15
Bharti-AXA Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
2006-2007
16
Future Generali India Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
2007-2008
17
IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
2007-2008
18
Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
2008-2009
19
Aegon Religare Life Insurance Company Ltd.
2008-2009
20
DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
2008-2009
21
Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
2008-2009
Table 1: List of Private Insurance Companies in India.
2. IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority)
IRDA, the only regulator in India, regulates all the functions of the insurance industry. All the companies as well as the agents of the companies have to follow the guidelines of IRDA. The advisor has to pass the IRDA examination and to get a license before he wants to start his/her business in insurance industry.
The mission of IRDA is protecting the interests of the policyholders, regulating, promoting and ensuring proper growth of the insurance industry and also handling any matter or dispute relating to the insurance industry. Authority of IRDA has a team of ten members consisting of a Chairman, Five Whole time Members, all appointed by the government of India.
Duties, Powers and Functions of IRDA
To regulate, promote and ensure adequate and proper growth of the insurance business and re insurance business.
Issuing the applicant a certificate of registration, renewing, modifying, withdrawing, suspending or canceling the registration.
Protecting the interests of the policy holders in any matter like assigning of policy, nomination by policy holders, insurable interest, settling insurance claim, surrender value of policy and other terms and conditions.
Specifying necessary qualifications, code of conduct and training for intermediary or insurance intermediaries and agents;
Specifying the code of conduct for surveyors and loss assessors;
Promoting efficiency in the insurance business;
Promotion and regulation of professional organizations connected with the insurance and re-insurance business;
Regulating investment of funds by insurance companies;
Maintenance of margin of solvency;
Resolving the disputes between insurers and intermediaries or insurance intermediaries.
3. PRODUCTS OFFERED BY LIFE-INSURANCE COMPANIES:
Before 2000, when the life-insurance market was totally dominated by LIC, there were limited numbers of products available to the customers. But as the private companies also got the permission to be into the life-insurance business, a lot of changes in the products have been seen. Now customers are now getting more concerned about the return on investment rather than just getting the risk coverage. This has led to companies offering different types of products that suit different individual needs. The main types of products offered are-
3.1 Term Policy
A term insurance plan is that which covers the risk for a specified period of time. The person buying this policy is not entitled to any amount if he survives for the period. For example, if a person buys a policy of 15 lakhs for 15 years, the nominee will get this 15 lakhs if he dies within that time period
If the person survives that period, he will not be entitled for that amount, and the insurance company will keep the amount of all the premiums paid during the 15 years period.
So, there is no investment or savings in this type of policy. This is just 100% risk cover. That is why the Term Insurance Policy is the cheapest among all types of policies.
Term Policies are particularly beneficial to those people who are unable to pay the larger premium required for the whole life or endowment policies, but still want to insure their dependents against their death.
3.2 Whole Life Policy
It is an insurance cover against death, which continues until the policy holder dies.
The policy holder has to pay regular premiums until his death, following which the sum assured will be given to the nominee.
The policyholder is not entitled to any money during his own lifetime i.e there is no survival benefit. This is a drawback of this policy, making it rigid, inflexible and unsuitable for most cases.
Whole Life Policies are particularly beneficial to those who are eligible for a decent pension amount during their retired life and hence a whole life policy can be useful in covering the risk of death and the pension coming to a premature end after death. It can serve as financial compensation to family for early loss of pension.
3.3 Endowment Policy
Endowment Policy covers the risk for a specified period, but at the end of this period, the sum assured plus the bonuses accumulated during the period are paid back to the policyholder. This is the feature which makes these policies extremely popular as they not only cover risk, but also give some return on investment as financial savings in form of endowment (sum assured plus bonus)
If the person buys the policy and dies during the tenure of the policy, the insurer firm will pay the sum assured just like any other pure risk cover.
The premium to be paid in these type of policies is obviously higher than term or whole life policies, due to the benefits it offers over them.
Endowment Policy is the most suitable for covering the risks to a family breadwinner's life. If one has the capacity to be able to pay the higher premiums, then this is the policy to go for.
3.4 Money Back Policy
In Endowment Policies, the survival benefits are payable only at the end of the policy term, but in Money Back Policies, periodic payments of partial survival benefits are provided during the term of the policy, as long as the policy holder is alive.
In the event of death at any time within the policy term, the death claim will comprise of the full sum assured, without deducting any survival benefit amounts already paid as money back components.
The bonus is also calculated on the full sum assured.
The premium payments are obviously higher than term or whole life policies.
These policies are particularly beneficial to those who require income at regular intervals in addition to the insurance cover as a necessity. The minimum age is 12 years to be eligible for a Money-Back Policy.
3.5 Annuities or Pension
An annuity is an investment made, either in a single lump-sum or through installments paid over a number of years, for which one receives back a specific sum every year, every half-year or every month either for life or certain number of years.
When the annuitant dies or when the fixed annuity period expires, the invested annuity fund is refunded along with small additions calculated at that time itself.
Annuity does not provide any life insurance cover. It rather offers guaranteed income for life or certain period, hence making it different from other insurance plans.
Annuities are particularly suitable to those who have received a large sum from Provident Funds on retirement. They can invest the proceeds in a pension or annuity plan as it is the most satisfactory way of providing a safe and secured income for the remainder of life.
3.6 Unit linked Insurance Plan (ULIP)
ULIPs are the most sold amongst all other Life Insurance variants today.
ULIP provide the applicant not only with life cover but with an effective investment tool also. A part of the premium paid is invested in the stock market and the applicant can earn decent returns (based on the performance of markets).
Same as Mutual Funds, the applicants can also choose their investment mix i.e. the ratio of debt & equity in the invested instruments.
Recently, there has been the ongoing turf war between SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India) and IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) over the issue regarding who should regulate ULIPs. SEBI has asserted that ULIPs are more of an investment instruments than insurance instruments. What will be the result of this tussle remains to be seen.
4. CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
4.1 CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
One definition of consumer behavior is the "study of individuals, groups, or organization and the processes they use and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society"
At one time, marketers could understand consumers through the daily experience of selling to them. But the growth of companies and markets has removed many marketing managers form direct contact with customers. Increasingly, managers have had to rely on the 7 O's framework for customer's research to answer the following key questions about market:
Who constitutes the market? Occupants
What does the market buy? Objects
Why does the market buy? Objectives
Who participates in the buying? Organizations
How does the market buy? Operations
When does the market buy? Occasions
Where does the market buy? Outlets
The starting point for understanding buying behavior is stimulus response model shown below. Environmental and marketing stimuli enter the buyer's consciousness. The buyer's characteristic and decisions process lead to certain purchase decisions. The marketer task is to understand what in the buyer's consciousness between arrival of outside stimuli and the buyer's purchase decisions. They must answer two questions:
How do the buyer's characteristic -cultural, social, personal and psychological influence buying behavior?
How does the buyer make purchase decisions?
4.2 BUYER BEHAVIOR
Buyer behavior means the process with which organizational buyers and consumers make purchase decisions. Buyer behavior is a broad term that applies both to the commercial buyer and ultimate consumer. However, consumer behavior refers to the buying behavior only of the ultimate consumers.
Following factors are the determinants of the buyer's behavior:
Cultural Factors
Culture can be defined as beliefs, values, tastes and preferences that are forwarded down from one generation to the other. Cultural values change over the time, but they change slowly. The core values are very slow to change .Cultural differences are important for the international marketer who is involved in understanding the potential of target markets and constructing effective marketing programs. A culture includes numerous subgroups with their own distinguishing modes of behavior called subculture. Subcultures are based upon factors such as race, nationality, age, rural vs urban, sex , religion and geographical distribution among others.
Social Factors
A consumer's behavior is influenced by social factors such as reference group, family and social roles and statues. A person's reference group consists of all the groups that have a direct or indirect influence on the person's attitudes and beliefs. Groups which have direct influence are called membership groups. A group where a person hopes to join is known as aspirational groups.
Most important consumer buying organization in the society is the family and family members constitute the most influential reference group. A person participates in many groups such as family, clubs, organizations; his position in each group can be defined in terms of role and status.
Personal Factors
These factors include the buyer's age, his stage in the lifecycle, occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle, personality and self concept. Lifestyle portrays the whole persons interacting with his or her environment. Marketers try to find out the relationship between their products and lifestyle groups. Each person has characteristics related to his personality that influence his or her buying behavior. By, personality it is meant a set of distinct human psychological traits that lead to relatively consistent and enduring response to environmental stimuli.
Psychological Factors
A person's buying choices are affected by four major psychological factors - motivation, perception, learning and beliefs and attitudes. Motivation is the driving force within the individuals that force them to do action, this force exist as a result of an unfulfilled need. Perception can be described as how we see the world around us. Buying decision depends very much on this factor as to what a buyer thinks about a particular brand. Learning is referred as the process by which the individuals acquire the purchase and consumption knowledge and gain experience, which affect their future related behavior. Attitude is the individual's behavior in a favorable or unfavorable way with respect to a particular object.
4.3 TYPES OF CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
Consumers always try to create an assortment of products which satisfies their needs and wants in the present and also in the future. To realize this aim , the consumer has to make a lot of decisions. These purchasing decisions can be classified into three main categories of decisions:
1. Routine response behavior
This behavior happens when the consumer regularly buys cheap products that needs very little search and also very little decision effort. In this case the consumer prefers a special brand but he also knows other brands of the same product class to have an alternative to buy if there is something wrong with his favorite brand.
2. Limited Decision Making
This is the case if the consumer buys the product occasionally or if there is a new brand, he doesn't know about, in a familiar product category. For this type of decision making the consumer needs a moderate amount of time for gathering information and deliberation.
3. Extensive Decision Making
This is the most complex decision making behavior. It happens when a purchase includes unfamiliar, expensive or infrequently bought products, for e.g. cars, house and etc. The buyer uses a lot of time evaluating alternative brands or choices and also for seeking information.
A big contrast to the extensive decision making process that were mentioned earlier is the behavior of the impulse buyers. These people do not plan conscious to buy; they have a persistent urge to buy something immediately if they like it. But often these people get in emotional conflicts; they often feel guilty because of their limited finances or something else.
5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
5.1 Title:
To study the consumer buying behavior towards life-insurance products.
5.2 Need and Importance of the Study:
Since the opening up of insurance market to private operators, India is considered one of the hottest places with the majority of the market being untapped. Though there are restrictions for foreign operators, many companies have entered the Indian market and are opening as joint venture partners. The change in the nature and structure of competition has changed the nature of the insurance products offerings. The perception of the market about the insurance, which was earlier negative, is gradually becoming positive.
It is necessary to understand what would make people to buy insurance products: who influence the buying decision and the market attitude towards insurance products.
In this perspective, the present study has concentrated to analyze the behavior exhibited by the consumers towards insurance products.
The study about the consumers helps the company to improve their marketing strategies by understanding the consumers. By understanding the consumer the company will be able to make a more informed decision as to which strategy to employ.
5.3 Objective
The various objectives for this project are as follows:
To know the purchase behavior of consumers towards insurance products.
To know the factors a consumer considers before investing his savings.
To check the preference of different type of investment among consumers.
5.4 Data Source:
The primary and secondary data are used for the study.
Primary Data:
For primary data was collection a questionnaire was prepared. The questionnaire was filled by a number of respondents either through personal interview or through internet.
Secondary Data:
Secondary data was collected through literature survey, newspapers, print advertisement and from websites.
5.5 Research Instrument:
Questionnaire was prepared to collect the necessary data for the study. The questionnaires were formed in such a manner that all the required information can be obtained from the respondent. Surveyors were made to fill up the questionnaire.
Some researches were made through internet.
5.6 Sample Design:
Since the total consumers of insurance policies can not be found in a short limited period. I have selected judgmental and convenience sampling.
Population:
The target population for the study mainly consisted of Delhi and NCR region and some other parts of the country. My target population consists of the people of the age of 20 and above. The population consists of both males and females.
Sample Size:
A sample size of 100 respondents was taken. The respondents were from different background, regions, religion, personality, status, etc.
5.7 Limitations of the research:
1. The research is confined to a certain parts of the country and does not necessarily shows a pattern applicable to all of country.
2. Some respondents were reluctant to divulge personal information which can affect the validity of all responses.
3. In a rapidly changing industry, analysis on one day or in one segment can change very quickly. The environmental changes are vital to be considered in order to assimilate the findings
6. DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION
6.1 Q: What is your occupation?
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
Salaried
65
65.0
65.0
65.0
Business
18
18.0
18.0
83.0
Self-Employed
7
7.0
7.0
90.0
Others
10
10.0
10.0
100.0
Total
100
100.0
100.0
Interpretation:
65% of the respondents are employed, while rest are either businessman or self-employed
or others.
.
6.2 Q: What is your annual income?
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
Less than 2, 40,000
21
21.0
21.0
21.0
2, 40,000 - 3, 60,000
37
37.0
37.0
58.0
3, 60,000 - 6, 00,000
27
27.0
27.0
85.0
More than 6, 00,000
15
15.0
15.0
100.0
Total
100
100.0
100.0
Interpretation:
37% of the respondents are having an annual income between 2,40,000 to 3,60,000, followed by 27% which consists of the people having annual income between 3,60,000 to 6,00,000. Only 15% of the respondents have an income of greater than 6,00,000.
6.3 Q: Do you have a life insurance policy?
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
Yes
89
89.0
89.0
89.0
No
11
11.0
11.0
100.0
Total
100
100.0
100.0
Interpretation:
Majority of the respondents (89%) already have a life insurance policy.
6.4 Q: If yes, then of which company's?
Interpretation:
Out of total 104 policies, 71 are of LIC, followed by ICICI-Prudential and others. This clearly shows that LIC is still the most preferred insurance company by a big margin. It was also found that some of the respondents have more than one insurance policy.
Others, specify
Interpretation:
Out of the others, Aviva and MNLI both have 2 policies each.
6.5 Q: How do you pay your premium?
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
Monthly
12
12.0
13.5
13.5
Quarterly
10
10.0
11.2
24.7
Semi-Annually
18
18.0
20.2
44.9
Annually
49
49.0
55.1
100.0
Total
89
89.0
100.0
Missing
System
11
11.0
Total
100
100.0
.
Interpretation:
Most of the respondents (almost half of them) pay their premium annually, while it is almost evenly distributed among the semi-annually, quarterly and monthly.
6.6 INVESTING OPTIONS
During the course of the questionnaire design it was decided that the importance given to different investment options available before investing should also be brought out by this survey. The question was set in on an ordinal scale and the Respondents were asked to rank from 1 to 5 with rank 1 being the most preferred and Rank 5 being the least preferred. The question was then analyzed using a weightage method. The methodology was as follows:
Score were assigned to each rank were as follows :
Rank
Weight
1
5
2
4
3
3
4
2
5
1
The frequency of each rank for each attribute was calculated
The score for each investment option was calculated by using the formula
Score = ∑ (Frequency * Weightage)
Based on the score the Investment Options were given ranks.
The ranks given by Respondents for the option Bank Deposit:
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
1
59
59.0
59.0
59.0
2
13
13.0
13.0
72.0
3
11
11.0
11.0
83.0
4
12
12.0
12.0
95.0
5
5
5.0
5.0
100.0
Total
100
100.0
100.0
As an example the score calculation for the Investment Option Bank Deposit according to the rank given by the respondents is shown below:
Rank
Weight
Frequency
Score
1
5
59
295
2
4
13
52
3
3
11
33
4
2
12
24
5
1
5
5
Total Score 409
Based on this type of calculation the result obtained from the 100 respondents was as follows:
S. No.
Investment Option
Score
Rank
1
Bank Deposit
409
1
2
Shares
291
3
3
Gold
248
4
4
Bonds/Mutual Funds
247
5
5
Insurance
307
2
Interpretation:
Bank Deposit was the most preferred option by the respondents and which is followed by Insurance and Shares.
6.7 Q: According to you, what is the main purpose of buying life-insurance policy?
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
Investment
30
30.0
30.0
30.0
Tax savings
25
25.0
25.0
55.0
Family security
45
45.0
45.0
100.0
Total
100
100.0
100.0
Interpretation:
45% of the respondents consider family security, whereas 30% consider an investment option as the main purpose of buying a life-insurance policy.
6.8 Q: Do you think mis-selling happens in the insurance industry?
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
Strongly agree
15
15.0
15.0
15.0
Agree
48
48.0
48.0
63.0
Neither agree nor disagree
29
29.0
29.0
92.0
Disagree
8
8.0
8.0
100.0
Total
100
100.0
100.0
Interpretation:
63% of the respondents think that mis-selling happens in the insurance industry. While 15% of those strongly agree, 48% agree to a certain extent, making it up to 63%
6.9 Q: How did/will you buy an insurance policy?
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
Customer approached company
35
35.0
35.0
35.0
Company approached customer
65
65.0
65.0
100.0
Total
100
100.0
100.0
Interpretation:
65 of the respondents bought or will like to buy an insurance policy if the company will approach them.
6.10 Q: What do you look in for in an insurance company? (Rank Them)
In this question respondents were asked to rank the given options according to their preference while selecting an insurance company. As different ranks were assigned to different options, so a similar method of analysis is used in this questions as used earlier.
Rank
Weight
1
4
2
3
3
2
4
1
The ranks given by Respondents for the option A trusted name:
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
1
54.0
54.0
54.0
54.0
2
38.0
38.0
38.0
92.0
3
6.0
6.0
6.0
98.0
4
2.0
2.0
2.0
100.0
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
Based on this type of calculation the result obtained from the 100 respondents was as follows:
S. No.
Consideration
Score
Rank
1
A trusted name
344
1
2
Products &Plans
274
2
3
Friendly service
214
3
4
Accessibility
168
4
Interpretation:
A trusted name is the main preference while selecting an insurance company, followed by the preference for Products and Plans, Friendly Service and Accessibility.
6.11 Q: Are you planning for a new investment?
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
Yes
38
38.0
38.0
38.0
No
62
62.0
62.0
100.0
Total
100
100.0
100.0
Interpretation:
38% of the respondents are planning for a new investment.
6.12 Q: Would you like to buy insurance if the service provider is away from the city, offers better service &products?
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
Yes
43
43.0
43.0
43.0
No
28
28.0
28.0
71.0
Uncertain
29
29.0
29.0
100.0
Total
100
100.0
100.0
Interpretation:
Majority of the respondents would like to buy the insurance even if the service provider is away from the city.
CROSSTABULATION:
6.13 Are you planning for a new investment? * According to you, what is the main purpose of buying life-insurance policy? Crosstabulation
Count
According to you, what is the main purpose of buying life-insurance policy?
Total
Investment
Tax savings
Family security
Are you planning for a new investment?
Yes
14
10
14
38
No
16
15
31
62
Total
30
25
45
100
Interpretation:
14 out of 38 respondents who are planning for a new investment consider insurance as an investment option.
6.14 Do you think mis-selling happens in the insurance industry? * Do you have a life insurance policy? Crosstabulation
Count
Do you have a life insurance policy?
Total
Yes
No
Do you think mis-selling happens in the insurance industry?
Strongly agree
15
0
15
Agree
39
9
48
Neither agree nor disagree
27
2
29
Disagree
8
0
8
Total
89
11
100
Interpretation:
Almost 60% of the respondents who already have a life-insurance policy think that mis-selling is being done by the insurance companies.
7. CONCLUSION
The above results have definitely given us some insights into the consumer buying behavior towards life insurance products. Majority of the respondents do have an insurance policy but the annual income is still in the less than Rs 6,00,000 bracket, which makes it imperative for the insurance companies to price their products and premiums accordingly. It was also seen that despite the entrance of many private players in the industry, Government owned LIC is still the most preferred insurance company, with private players having a long way to go before challenging LIC for the top spot. It was seen that Insurance has gained a bit more importance now, with it occupying the second spot as an investment option behind Bank Deposit, which continues to be the most sought after form of investment. Majority of respondents buy insurance for family security rather than investment option and prefer the company approaching them, and not going to the company to buy it. A cause of concern for insurance companies is the overwhelming response by the respondents who believe that mis-selling occurs quite rampantly in insurance industry. The respondents do not even mind the insurance provider to be away from the city as long as the quality of products and service is up to the mark. Hence, it can be concluded that there is tremendous potential in the insurance industry, which will keep growing at an exponential rate. But, the insurance companies have to ensure that they adequately monitor their selling practices, discourage and eliminate mis-selling and ensure they take the customers into confidence. This is because 'Trusted Name' continues to be the most important factor while choosing an insurance provider by the customers.
