REVIEWS RELATED TO LIFE INSURANCE POLICY HOLDERS AWARENESS

1. Chaudhary (2012) explained that today India is one of the fastest growing economies of
the world. The Insurance Industry contributes to the financial sector of an economy and also
provides social security to the people of a country. The income earning capacity and
increasing rate of literacy are the key factors of the growth of the Insurance industry. This
sector provides for the long term contractual savings and security. The investors in life
insurance are looking forboth good return and life risk coverage. This study is conducted in
Panipat city to check the awareness and satisfaction level of insurance buyers/ consumers. To
achieve these objectives, a questionnaire is designed to collect the data of buyers of
insurance.

Reference
Chaudhary P., “Awareness and satisfaction level of consumers towards insurance products – a case
study of Panipat city”, International Journal of Research in IT & Management (2012), 2(7), 68-74.

2. Jain and Goyal (2012) noted that the insurance industry is in existence since long, the level
of awareness towards the rights and duties regarding insurance are negligible. The study tries
to understand the awareness of the people towards the rights and duties towards life insurance
products after the privatization of the insurance sector. To actually understand this, a primary
research was conducted to find out the level of awareness towards the rights and duties of the
policy holders across demographic profiles and about the level of awareness towards life
insurance policies prevailing in the market. Chi-square test was used to test the significance
of the relationship. The analysis is based on a sample of 117 individuals from randomly
selected general public. A significant association between the demographic determinants and
the awareness towards the rights and duties regarding life insurance was found showing low
level of awareness towards rights and duties among the policy holders of life insurance. The
study was undertaken in Rajasthan and the methodology can be comfortably to the country as
a whole.

Reference
Jain & Goyal, “An empirical study of the level of awareness towards various rights and duties among
the insured households in Rajasthan, India”, International Refereed Research Journal (2012), 3(2), 40-
49

3. Prakash (2012) observed that consumer awareness is the knowledge that a consumer
should have about his/her legal rights and duties. It is must for a consumer to follow these
rights. It is implemented for the protection of the consumer, so that the consumer is not
exploited by the seller of the products. Consumer awareness is making the consumer aware of
His/ Her rights. The marketing term ‘Consumer awareness’ means that consumers note or
aware of products or services.

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Reference
Prakash, “Consumer Awareness of HDFC Standard in Life Insurance Company Limited”, Research
Journal of Commerce and Behavioural Science (2012), 1(11), 36-45.

4. Dar (2013) carried out a community-based cross-sectional study towards the awareness of
life insurance in the population of Jammu and Kashmir State. A total number of 242
respondents from 242 households were interviewed by using a pretested questionnaire after
obtaining informed consent from the participants. The awareness of life insurance was found
to be 64.0 per cent. Around 45.0 per cent of the respondents came to know about life
insurance from the media which played an important role in the dissemination of information.
The mean premium amount agreeable to be paid by the respondents for life insurance was
found to be Rs.1804.00; even the low socio-economic group of people was also willing to
part with a reasonable amount of Rs. 697.00 annually for life insurance. The middle and low
socio-economic groups favored government life insurance compared to private life insurance
as they have more faith on Government Company. The findings indicate that government
should come out with a policy, where the public can be made to contribute to a life insurance
scheme to ensure unnecessary events and also better utilization of life insurance facilities.

Reference
Dar A.A., “Awareness of Life Insurance- A Study of Jammu And Kashmir State”, International
Journal in Multidisciplinary and Academic Research (2013), 1(3), 1-13.

5. Choudhuri (2014) analysed that the customers are very much conscious about their needs
and requirements towards insurance. Based on the several factors, customers are now
selecting different kinds of products in their life where their awareness about the several
existing life insurance products varies situation wise, culture wise, nation wise, sector wise,
industry wise and obviously over times. On the other hand, like any other company, Life
Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) is adopting various strategies to develop customers’
awareness about the various products as well as involving in the fulfillment of various needs
and requirements of the customers through their selection of different life insurance policies
available in the market. Observing present scenario of the LICI customers’ product awareness
and their current transactional life insurance policies, in this study the investigation of
customers’ product awareness and transaction gap in Life Insurance Corporation of India has
been conducted in Burdwan district, West Bengal. In this study, accepted 221 usable
responses were considered as the sample size and statistical package SPSS 16 was used to
perform the analyses.

Reference
Choudhuri P.S., “Investigation of Customers’ Product Awareness and Transaction Gap in Life
Insurance Corporation of India”, International Journal of Research in Commerce & Management
(2014), 4(5), 69-72.

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6. Choudhuri (2014) explained that as a social being customers are not only relationally
attached with the different kinds of people in their daily life but also directly related with
their service providers in different ways. Empirical studies indicated that in the modern age
of the society, the technology savvy customers‟ awareness about the several existing life
insurance products depends on a number of factors where over times these factors varies
situation wise, culture wise, nation wise, sector wise as well as industry wise. Considering
awareness scenario of the customers of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) about its
available products in the present life insurance market, the researcher in this study conducted
a study in Burdwan district, West Bengal, to indentify the significant factors that play a
noteworthy role in customers‟ mind to make them aware about the different products of the
LICI. Narendar and Sampath (2014)8 observed that the level of awareness towards
the rights and duties regarding insurance is negligible. The study tries to understand
the awareness of the people towards the rights and duties towards life insurance
products after the privatization of the insurance sector with special reference to
Indian insurance sector. To actually understand this, a primary research was
conducted to find out the level of awareness towards the rights and duties of the
policy holders across demographic profiles and about the level of awareness
towards life insurance policies prevailing in the Indian market. The study totally
concentrates on the individual behavior, attitudes and also crating the awareness
regarding their contribution on Indian insurance sector.

Reference
Choudhuri P.S., “Identification of the Significant Factors Influencing Customers’ Awareness about
the Products of Life Insurance Corporation of India”, JOMASS (2014), 1(1), 16-25.

7. Dhanabhakyam and Anitha (2011) explained that the insurance sector, along with other
elements of marketing, as well as financial infrastructure have been touched and influenced
by the process of liberalization and globalization in India. The customer is the king in the
market. Life insurance companies deal in intangible products. With the entry of private
players, the competition is becoming intense. In order to satisfy the customers, every
company is trying to implement new creations and innovative product characteristics to
attract customers. Keeping this in mind, the present study is designed to analyze the
innovation in Life insurance sector in India.

Reference
Dhanabhakyam M. & Anitha V., “Intruders altering the perception of customers in the Life Insurance
Sector of India – a comparative empirical study between public & private life insurance companies”,
International journal of research in commerce & management (2011), 2(8), 97-102. 17

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8. Sreenivas and Anand (2012) found in the Indian context that the insurance habits among
the general public during the independence decade was rare but there was a remarkable
improvement in the Indian insurance industry soon after the economic reform era due to
healthy competition from many national as well as international private insurance players. In
this study attempt has been made to analyze the investors’ perceptions towards public and
private life insurance companies in India with special reference to Karnataka.

Reference
Sreenivas & Anand, “Investors perceptions on public and private Life Insurance Companies in India –
with special reference to life insurance investors in Karnataka”, International Journal of Research in
Commerce & Management (2012), 3(2), 37-45.

9. Tiwari and Yadav (2013) determined that the deregulation of the Indian Insurance market,
low insurance market penetration and the anticipated potential of the Indian insurance
industry make it an attractive opportunity for private entrants. With the progress of IRDA
reforms and enactment of IRDA act 1999, liberalization of the insurance market in India gave
entry to many private insurers, resulting in drastic changes in respect to people’s choice of
companies. With the expansion of the market, insurance penetration and density of the
country have been improves, leading to a competition within the companies in terms of
policies sold, collection of premium income, first premium income, market share, settlement
of claims and others. In India life insurance is regarded as more than a mere risk cover and is
considered an important avenue of investment. Indian investors therefore, evaluate the past
track record and risk potential of an Insurer before taking a policy investment decision. In this
study an attempt has been made to analyze the investors’ risk perceptions towards public and
private life insurance companies in India with special reference to Madhya Pradesh. The
study has been conducted with the help of a structured close-ended questionnaire which was
administered to 200 potential investors who have already made investment in lifeinsurance
policy. Necessary statistical tools such as percentage and ranking method have been used for
the purpose of data analysis and comparison. The study expects to reveal that although a
number of private insurance companies have entered the Indian life insurance market, but
Life Insurance Corporation of India still seems to be the first choice for many of the investors
due to its strong brand image and the perceived safety that is associated with it.

Reference
Tiwari A., & Yadav B., “A Comparative Analysis of Investor’s Risk Perceptions towards Public &
Selected Private Life Insurers in Jabalpur District of Madhya Pradesh”, Gian Jyoti E-journal (2013),
3(3), 11-22.

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10. Rao (2014) explained that liberalization of the financial services sector has led to
insurance companies functioning increasingly under competitive pressures; so companies are
consequently directing their strategies towards increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty
through improved service quality. With the opening of insurance industry to private players,
the competition has intensified and it has become very difficult for the companies to attract
and retain the policyholders. Every company has recognized the need for shifting from a
traditional strategy to survive in the market. It is in this context, the process of CRM has been
adopted by all private and public sector insurance companies as well. CRM technologies and
campaign management tools are maturing and finding wider adoption with large insurance
companies. This study is an endeavour to examine and evaluate the various CRM initiatives
in life insurance companies and compare the strategies used by public sector LIC with private
sector com1panies

Reference
Rao C.R., “A Comparative Analysis on Customer Relationship Management in Public Sector and
Private Sector Life Insurance Companies”, Global Research Analysis (2014), 3(3), 85-87.

11. Narendar and Sampath (2014)8 observed that the level of awareness towards the rights and duties
regarding insurance is negligible. The study tries to understand the awareness of the people towards
the rights and duties towards life insurance products after the privatization of the insurance sector with
special reference to Indian insurance sector. To actually understand this, a primary research was
conducted to find out the level of awareness towards the rights and duties of the policy holders across
demographic profiles and about the level of awareness towards life insurance policies prevailing in
the Indian market. The study totally concentrates on the individual behavior, attitudes and also crating
the awareness regarding their contribution on Indian insurance sector..

Reference
Narendar & Sampath, “Consumer awareness towards life insurance sector in India”, ABHINAV
International Monthly Refereed Journal of Research in Management & Technology (2014), 3(3), 45-
51

12. Khan, M.K. (1978) attempts to know the opportunities and prospects in the career of a life
insurance sector. He explains about what a good career is and how a good career should be for selling
of life insurance products. There is no age barrier and it requires no previous occupational experience
but one must be a professional and capable of creating opportunities in building personality. The
relationship of life Insurance agent with clients is not temporary and the service rendered has no
substitutes. He also observes that life insurance agent remains, in a sense, permanent server to the
clients.

Reference
Khan, M.K., “Prospects of a Career in Life Insurance Business in India - An Analysis, Indian Journal
of Marketing, Volume 7, No. 6, Feb 1978, P. 23-31.

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13. Agarwala (1961) in his historical and analytical study entitled. ‘The LIC in India’ pointed out that
in the developing countries, life insurance was an expanding phenomenon. Before the nationalization
of the LIC, the life insurance market way narrow and highly imperfect, which was due to the under
development of the country’s national economy. But after nationalization, the LIC has made an
excellent progress in the number of policies sold and the sum assured mobilized.

Reference
Agarwala, Life Insurance in India – Its Historical and analytical study, Allahabad, 1961, . 1- 360 3

14. Desai (1973) in his study entitled, ‘ Life Insurance in India – its history and Dimensions of
growth’ stated that the origin and development of the life insurance in India over the years has wide
spread mindedness in insurance and the significant sales through service initiatives, executive
efficiency, economy and promptness and spreading the benefits of life insurance to vast section of the
rural population and industrial workers throughout the country could achieve a formidable growth in
LIC.

Reference
Desai G.R. ‘Life Insurance in India – Its History and Dimensions of Growth, Macmillan India New
Delhi, 1973, PP. 1-51

15. Jonsson Petur (1994) in his study “Social Influence and Individual Preferences: On Schumpeter’s
Theory of Consumer Choice” states that Schumpeter’s theory of consumer choice also assumes that
customers’ preferences and tastes are generally deficient, and factors such as experience, learning,
innovation, and social environment affect the formation of preferences.

Reference
Jonsson Petur O., (1994), Social Influence and Individual Preferences : On Schumpeter’s Theory of
Consumer Choice, Review of Social Economy, Taylor and Francis Journals, Vol.52(4), pp.301-314.
16. Negi and Sarkar (1995), in their paper, analyzed and critically examined the portfolio
management policy of LIC with respect to its investment in Govt. of India’s securities. The study
revealed that up to 1987, the LIC had increased its investment under the Government of India’s
securities with the increase of its total controlled fund. But after 1987, its investments under the two
heads did not increase with the increase in total controlled funds. After 1987, the corporation decided
to take more risk in order to earn higher returns. It decided to be little aggressive for their portfolio
management and tilted towards investment in securities and financial instrument where higher returns
were possible, keeping in view the satisfaction of customers. It was important for the corporation to
earn higher profit so that bonus might be declared at a higher rate.

Reference
Negi, V.S.; and Sarkar, A.K. (1995), "Portfolio Management Policy of LIC", Finance India, Vol. IX
No.1, pp. 85-91.

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17. Dhar Ravi (1997), in his article “Consumer Preference for a No-Choice Option” says that though
there are a lot of various elements that can affect customers’ preferences and choices, there is still the
possibility for not making a choice at all. Many decisions involve a choice among many alternatives
available in the market as in the case of choosing insurance among many insurance companies and
other financial activities. To choose one service or product among many, alternatives can be difficult
for some people and they can end up not choosing any. Since time for decisions regarding purchases
is not predetermined or predictable, consumers usually have the option not to choose. There are also
some factors that might affect such decisions, which could be to await a better opportunity, better
service or maybe better information.

Reference
Dhar Ravi, (1997), Consumer Preference for a No-Choice Option, Journal of Consumer Research,
Vol.24, Issue 2, p215.

18. Bettman James R., Luce Mary Frances and Payne John (1998) in their article “Constructive
Consumer Choice Processes” state that there are many different approaches for studying customers’
preferences and choices. One of them is rational choice theory, which assumes that customers are
rational when making their choice about different products and services. Rationality in this case
means that customer have well-defined preferences which do not depend on a particular description of
options or on specific methods used to obtain these preferences. Customers’ demands and preferences
of different products and services are a subject of concern for many business areas. For the insurance
industry, it means providing a variety of products and services that customers of different ages want.
However, these customers’ preferences and choices are not similar from one customer to another
which is also valid for young people’s preferences studied in this paper.

Reference
Bettman James R., Luce Mary Frances, Payne John W., (1998), Constructive Consumer Choice
Processes, Journal of consumer Research, Inc., Vol.25, Issue 3, p187.

19. Forbes (2000), in his paper, emphasized on delivering excellent customer service in the insurance
industry. It has been described that the outstanding customer service although conceptually simple, is
difficult to achieve. It takes quite a long time and requires energy and staying power. It has to be part
of the fundamental philosophy of the organization - understood and embraced by everyone. It has to
be built into products and processes; and systems have to be set up to deliver it. Above all, the people
who make up the organization need to have the skills, passion and commitment to make it work.

Reference

Forbes (2000), “Delivering Customer Service Excellence” Insurance Research and Practice, Vol.15,
Pt. 1, PP. 19-23.

20. Stott (2001) investigated the issues related to achieving service delivery excellence in an active
and developing insurance company. In his paper, the author also discussed service quality issues and
the emphasis to be placed on alignment of factors to achieve the company goal. It focused on making
up a complete service quality master plan. The master plan must include service awareness,
measuring customer satisfaction, internal service programmes, business processes, external
improvements, service quality control, emphasis on five quality dimensions such as responsiveness,
assurance, tangibles, empathy and reliability, service quality culture, aligning people, product and

7
service quality to achieve profitable customer satisfaction. The paper concludes that if a company
cannot deliver both quality products and services successfully, it will eventually be overtaken by the
competition.

Reference
Stott, D. (2001), "Service Quality in a Developing Market", The Journal, Jan.- June, pp.16-23.

21. Raman and Gayathri (2004), in their study on “Customer Awareness Towards New Insurance
Companies”, inferred that due to the increase of new companies attractive schemes and low premium,
the investors have been forced invest money in the new companies.

Reference
Raman N and Gayathri C, “ A Study on Customers Awareness Towards New Insurance Companies”,
Indian Journal of Marketing , Volume 34, No. 1, January 2004, P. 30

22. Tripathy (2004), made an endeavor to find out the perception of customers towards insurance
companies through marketing variables, and also analyzed the performance of customers and the
importance they assigned to different attributes. The author also examined the satisfaction level of
respondent customers and agents regarding customer service offered by the company, and tried to
determine the position of different companies in the minds of people. The study is based on a
questionnaire survey of 225 respondents in Orissa by using multi-dimensional scaling technique. It is
observed that 58 per cent of the investors preferred to invest in insurance companies due to choice of
products, servicing policy and claims settlement. Majority of the respondents were influenced to take
the policy through financial journals and business magazines, and also keeping in mind the high
reputation and good CRM of the company. The author suggested that to achieve greater insurance
penetration, private companies have to create more vibrant and competitive industry, with greater
efficiency, choice of products and value for customers.

Reference
Tripathy, N.P. (2004), "An Application of Multi-dimensional Scaling Model towards Brand
Positioning of Insurance Industry", Insurance Chronicle, October, pp. 19-25.

23. Azam (2005), examined the customers' attitudes towards private and public owned general
insurance organizations’ products exploring 8 salient beliefs, namely, sound financial strength,
goodwill, satisfactory claim settlement, easy risk underwriting, diversified policy, experienced
employee, excellent client service and good office environment. The study utilised fishbeins' multi-
attribute attitude object model to measure overall attitude. T- Test was performed to test the
hypothesis. The study indicated that among 8 salient beliefs customers' perceptions on financial
strength, goodwill and office environment are statistically different at 0.001 level, while risk
underwriting and client service are different at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that
customers' favorable perception towards financial strength and goodwill of SBC, while office
environment, risk underwriting and client services were favorable for private insurance companies.

Reference
Azam, M.S. (2005), "Customers' Attitude towards General Insurance Service: Contrasting the Public
and Private Sectors in Bangladesh", Insurance Journal, July, pp. 91-109.

8
24. Dr.B.M.Ghodeswar (2006) in his article, explained the customer sensitivity as the customers were
sensitive to many factors which affect their choice of buying an insurance product from a company.
Those aspects were studied by the author in terms of demographic background, innovativeness,
product service offering, price perception, and the level of customer satisfaction in their past
experience.

Reference
Dr.B.M.Ghodeswar, “Customer Connections - A Key Advantage in Life Insurance Sector”,
Yogakshema, Sep. 2006, p.23- 24.

25. Fatima Alinvi and Maira Babri (2007) in their Bachelor Thesis submitted for the International
Business Program titled as “Customers’ Preferences of Insurance Services” analysed how the
insurance companies could enhance their ability of meeting the constant changes in customers’
preferences in an increasingly competitive environment. The data collected in their study showed that
price is a decisive factor in the choice of insurances. Young customers base their preferences on their
life circumstances such as age and income. Certain respondents showed skepticism and distrust
towards the intentions of insurance companies, and they desire more information about the conditions
of various insurances.

Reference
Fatima Alinvi and Maira Babri,2007. Customers’ Preferences of Insurance Services, Bachelor Thesis
submitted for the International Business Program.

26. Bodla and Verma (2007), studied the buyer behaviour regarding life insurance policies in the rural
areas of Haryana. As many as 188 questionnaires were used for analysis and taken on the basis of
convenience sampling. The study found that the respondents belonging to the age group 31-40 years
dominate the rural insurance. Market agents are the most important source of information and
motivation as the people take a policy that is suggested by an agent. Money-back policy is most
preferred in the rural areas followed by Jeevan Anand and Endowment Policy; and the rural people
have less faith in private insurers. The results also reveal that the women segment is still untapped in
rural areas and the role of advertisements is still not up to the mark in motivating rural people to buy
insurance policies.

Reference
Bodla, B.S.; and Verma, S.R. (2007), "Life Insurance Policies in Rural Areas: Understanding Buyer
Behaviour", The ICFAI Journal of Services Marketing, Vol.V, No.4, pp.18-27.

27. Raj Kumari (2007), in her study, identified the customers attitude towards purchase of insurance
products and also their knowledge on the bancassurance formats available through banks. The study
concluded that insurance awareness is growing rapidly among the people though many of them are
still hesitant to insure due to certain barriers. The people go for insurance only to avoid income tax
and have future savings. Bancassurance, the new term in insurance about this concept. The people
understanding bancassurance did not have an idea on Centurion Bank providing this facility. The
results also indicated that there is very less relation of the bancassurance clients with Centurion Bank
accounts like savings, loans etc.

Reference

9
Raj Kumari, M. (2007), "A Study on Customers Preference Towards Insurance Services and
Bancassurance", The ICFAI Journal of Risk and Insurance Vol. IV, No. 2, pp. 49-59.

28. Devasenathipathi et al. (2007), compared and rated all the life insurance companies, measured
the customer perception, purchase behaviour, consumer awareness regarding life insurance industry
and also studied the privatization, policy awareness and life coverage awareness among the
consumers. The data has been collected through a questionnaire filled from 500 customers residing
in Chennai. The study concluded that the entry of private players brought better service, quicker
settlement, greater awareness and more choice. The purchasing behavior of the consumer depends
on quality, accessibility and promptness of services, which may lead a company acquire the top rank
with a huge market share.

Reference
Devasenathipathi, T.; Saleendran, P.T.; and Shanmugasundaram, A. (2007), "A Study on Consumer
Preference and Comparative Analysis of All Life Insurance Companies", The ICFAI Journal of
Consumer Behaviour, Vol.11, No.4, pp. 7-15.

29. Girish kumar and Eldhose (2008), published an insurance chronicle ICFAI monthly magazine
august 2008. In their paper titled "customer perception on life insurance services: a comparative study
of public and private sectors", they explained the importance of quality services and its significance in
raising customer satisfaction level. A comparative study of public and private sectors help in
understanding the customer perception, satisfaction and awareness on various life insurance
services.

Reference
Eldhose.v and kumar. G (2008), “customer perception on life insurance services: a comparative study
of public and private sectors", insurance chronicle icfai monthly magazine august 2008, pg. No 32-36.

30. The Insurance Institute of India prepared a Project Report on “Marketing of Life Insurance”,
(1987)10. This project was undertaken to examine the following aspects: Extent of life insurance
coverage, awareness, attitudes and beliefs of people on life insurance, perceptions, sense of
identification of employees with Life Insurance Company. He concluded that LIC is a better avenue
of investment than bank deposits. LIC products are sold easily among the consumers on account of its
reliability.

Reference
A Project on “Marketing of Life Insurance”, The Insurance Institute of India, Bombay 1987.

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