Introduction

Insurance has become an integral aspect in everyone’s life today. It is a written

contract of insurance that offers protection against future loss. The life insurance generally
helps to insure the life of people. A definite compensation is provided by the insurer to the
insured person. The non-life insurance provides financial support to people or companies and
helps them to overcome the losses. The basic human trait is to be averse to the idea of taking
risks. There is always an urge to minimize the risks and provide protection against possible
failure. The risk includes fire, the perils of sea, death, accidents and burglary. Any risk may
be insured against at a premium commensurate with the risk involved. Thus collective
bearing of risk is insurance that provides reasonable degree of security and assurance that
insured will be protected in the event of a calamity or failure of any sort. There are number of
forces driving the service sector today. Five environmental variables universally affect all
industries are; buyer, competitors, government, technology and globalization. In addition,
there are four factors of particular importance to service providers- change in how quality is
perceived, cost control, customer services and the new definitions of the customer. Services
are relatively intangible, produced and consumed simultaneously and often less standardized
than goods. These heterogeneous characteristics of services present special challenges and
strategic marketing opportunities to the service marketers. The real competition between the
service marketers is set on after globalization, financial reforms and information technology
progression. The service marketing organisation has to adopt professional management
approach and its marketers have to imbibe the qualities of professionalism in order to meet
the expectation of the policyholders. Hence, in this study an attempt has been made to discuss
the status of insurance in economy, penetration of insurance industry, key issues in insurance,
behaviour of policyholders, regulations and legislations insurance industry and other such
emerging areas of marketing of insurance, which is one of the leading services in our country.

The life insurance market was underdeveloped in the developing counties and started
to open up new vistas and increase its cover with the entry of private players under the
supervision of regulatory bodies. Initially the life insurance was seen more as a tax saving
instrument than a life insurance product. The pace of coverage extension was found to be

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awfully inadequate. In recent times, there has been growing awareness about life insurance
products and the various associated benefits among the policyholders. The private players
customized the insurance products and introduced innovations in annuity, health, education
and pension plans. Offerings like Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs) have done their bit to
draw attention of individuals towards the insurance segment. Tax benefits have also
contributed to their allure and helped in popularizing insurance products. Conversely, there
are products like medical insurance or med claim as it is commonly referred to, which can
add value to an individual’s insurance portfolio, but are relatively lesser known. People
started thinking that life insurance also caters to the increased savings from the households
thus increasing the much needed domestic savings. Awareness in the benefit of life insurance
as such and also as a secondary investment instrument had to the increased interest in the life
insurance products. The advertisement, promotional activities, ecommerce, m-commerce and
viable strategic planning by the new entrants in the insurance market have also helped in
spreading the consumer awareness and policy benefits. The distribution of life insurance in
innovative methods apart from the standard agent based model has also helped in creating
awareness and interest among people. On-line insurance, kiosks for mallsurance,
bankasurance and other marketing activities are insisting marketers to cater varying needs of
intellectual, rational and busy policyholders as a faster mode of communication approached
by a mass all over the world.

An insurance policy is primarily meant to protect the income of the family’s

breadwinners. The idea is if the insured die, dependents may hereto continue to live
comfortably. The circle of life begins at birth, followed by education, marriage and
eventually, after a lifetime of work, people look forward to a life of retirement. Finances too
tend to change as people go through the various phases of our life. In the first twenty years of
our life, they are financially and emotionally dependent on parents and there are no financial
commitments to be met. In the next forthcoming years, they gain financial independence and
provide support to their families. This is also the stage when the income may be insufficient
to meet the growing expenses of a young household. In the following twenty years, as the
children grow and become financially independent, people see their savings grow, a nest egg
put away for life after retirement. The final twenty years of life, post retirement is the time to
reap the rewards of hard work. Life insurance is also being promoted as a vehicle for
investment. The unique feature of insurance is; it covers the risk of life and provides better

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 return for investment. Most people would like to invest in insurance for risk hedging and tax
saving potential. The government provides tax saving benefits for insurance. This is
encouraging people to save their money. The other options of investment are mutual funds,
share market, gold, government bonds/securities, bank and post office deposits.

The fluctuations and financial crisis in stock market is also changing attitude of
consumers for exploring new pattern of investments. Some of the government investments
plans provides return and benefits after certain periods at limited time only. Life insurance
provides returns and risk coverage for whole life. The return may come to the policyholders
on monthly, quarterly, half yearly and annual basis. This feature is possible in money back
policy and in some other life insurance products.

Following are the leading insurers in India:

 Life Insurance Corporation of India.

 Tata AIG General Insurance.
 Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
 New India Assurance.
 ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.
 IFFCO TOKIO General Insurance.
 ICICI Lombard General Insurance.
 Oriental Insurance.

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 Industry Analysis

The insurance industry of India consists of 57 insurance companies of which 24 are in

life insurance business and 33 are non-life insurers. Among the life insurers, Life Insurance
Corporation (LIC) is the sole public sector company. Apart from that, among the non-life
insurers there are six public sector insurers. In addition to these, there is sole national re-
insurer, namely, General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re). Other stakeholders in
Indian Insurance market include agents (individual and corporate), brokers, surveyors and
third party administrators servicing health insurance claims.

Out of 33 non-life insurance companies, five private sector insurers are registered to
underwrite policies exclusively in health, personal accident and travel insurance segments.
They are Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Ltd, Apollo Munich Health Insurance
Company Ltd, Max Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd, Religare Health Insurance
Company Ltd and Cigna TTK Health Insurance Company Ltd. There are two more
specialised insurers belonging to public sector, namely, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation
of India for Credit Insurance and Agriculture Insurance Company Ltd for crop insurance.

Market Size

Government's policy of insuring the uninsured has gradually pushed insurance penetration in
the country and proliferation of insurance schemes.

The domestic life insurance industry registered 10.99 per cent y-o-y growth for new business
premium in 2017-18, generating a revenue of Rs 1.94 trillion (US$ 30.1 billion).

Gross direct premiums for non-life insurance industry increased by 17.54 per cent y-o-y in
FY18.

Investments

The following are some of the major investments and developments in the Indian insurance
sector.

Insurance sector companies in India raised around Rs 434.3 billion (US$ 6.7 billion) through
public issues in 2017.

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In 2017, insurance sector in India saw 10 merger and acquisition (M&A) deals worth US$
903 million.

India's leading bourse Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will set up a joint venture with Ebix
Inc. to build a robust insurance distribution network in the country through a new distribution
exchange platform

Government Initiatives

The Government of India has taken a number of initiatives to boost the insurance industry.
Some of them are as follows:

National Health Protection Scheme will be launched under Ayushman Bharat to provide
coverage of up to Rs 500,000 (US$ 7,723) to more than 100 million vulnerable families.

Over 47.9 million famers were benefitted under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
(PMFBY) in 2017-18.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) plans to issue
redesigned initial public offering (IPO) guidelines for insurance companies in India, which
are to looking to divest equity through the IPO route.

IRDAI has allowed insurers to invest up to 10 per cent in additional tier 1 (AT1) bonds that
are issued by banks to augment their tier 1 capital, in order to expand the pool of eligible
investors for the banks.

Road Ahead

The future looks promising for the life insurance industry with several changes in regulatory
framework which will lead to further change in the way the industry conducts its business
and engages with its customers.

The overall insurance industry is expected to reach US$ 280 billion by 2020.

Demographic factors such as growing middle class, young insurable population and growing
awareness of the need for protection and retirement planning will support the growth of
Indian life insurance.

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Role of Insurance in minimizing risk:

. To create awareness among individuals how insurance plays a key role in reducing risk.

. To bring more people into the bracket of insurance

. To analyze why do some people buy insurance & others do not

. To analyze current and future trends

. Examine the response of individuals towards use of insurance in minimizing risk.

. Disseminating the benefits derive from insurance

. Resolving problems & challenges in using insurance.

Need For the study:

Success of any company depends upon the satisfaction level of customers.

Satisfaction level depends on usage of product/service. But the customer should be aware of
the product/service. So that they can purchase the product/service. So the company should
know the level of awareness towards company and company’s product & services. Hence the
present study focuses on finding the awareness level.

Scope of the study:

The present study is limited to 80 respondents of age group between 18 & 45. The
total respondents are from Andhrahalli area of Banglore city.

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Objectives of the study:

 To find awareness of individuals on insurance policies.

 To study the role of print media, electronic media, and social networks in
promoting insurance policies
 To estimate the percentage of population having insurance policies.
 To find level of awareness among individuals of how insurance can play
role in minimizing the risk.
 To analyze the reasons for not being insured

Research Methodology:
Sample Size : “80”
Sample Type : “Non Random Sampling”
Data collection Instrument : “Structured questionnaire”
Date analysis : Bar graphs, percentage method and Pie charts.

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 1) Age group ?

Less than 30 years 30-40 years 40-50 years 50 & above

74 4 2 0

Age
80

70

60

50

40
74
30

20

10

0 4 2 0
less than 30 years 30-40 years 40-50 years 50 & above

INTERPRETATION: from the above graph 74 respondents are of less than 30 years of age
group and 4 respondents are 30-40 years age group and remaining 2 respondents are of 40-50
years of age group.

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 2) EDUCATION ?

illiterate primary matriculation Higher graduation Post vocational other

secondary graduation
0 0 0 8 24 48 0 0

60 Education

50

40

30

48
20

24
10

8
0 0 0 0 0 0
Matriculatio Higher Post
Illiterate Primary Graduation vocational other
n secondary graduation
Series 1 0 0 0 8 24 48 0 0

INTERPRETATION : from the above graph 48 respondents are post graduated and 24 are
graduated and remaining 8 respondents are higher secondary

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 3) Occupation?
employed Un Self student House professional Family Retired
employed employed wife owned
business
20 16 6 34 0 0 4 0

Occupation
40
34
35

30

25
20
20
16
15

10
6
4
5
0 0 0
0
self family owned
emplpoyed un employed student house wife professional retired
employed business
Series 1 20 16 6 34 0 0 4 0

INTERPRETATION: From the above graph we can observe that 34 respondents are
students and 20 respondents are employed and 16 respondents are unemployed 6 respondents
are self employed.

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 4) Income per annum (Rs)
Less than 1,00,000- 2,00,000- 3,00,000- 4,00,000- 5,00,000 &
1,00,000 2,00,000 3,00,000 4,00,000 5,00,000 above
50 6 17 0 5 2

Income per annum(Rs)

60
50
50

40

30

20 17

10 6 5
2
0
0
less than 1,00,000- 2,00,000- 3,00,000- 4,00,000- 5,00,000 &
1,00,000 2,00,000 3,00,000 4,00,000 5,00,000 above
Series 1 50 6 17 0 5 2

INTERPRETATION: from that above graph 50 respondents have income less than
1,00,000 and 17 respondents income 2,00,000-3,00,000 per annum and 6 respondents have
income 1,00,000 to 2,00,000

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 5) Do you have insurance policy ?

Do you have Insurance policy

25

55

yes no

INTERPRETATION: From the above graph, it is observed that, 25 respondents have taken
insurance policy and 55 respondents haven’t taken insurance policy, total respondents being
80.

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 6) Who is your insurer?
Public company Private company Others
45 15 20

who is your insurer?

50
45
45

40

35

30

25
20
20
15
15

10

0
public company private company others
Column1 45 15 20

INTERPREATATION : From the above graph, it is observed that, 45 respondents have

preferred public company, 15 of respondents have preferred private company and 20
respondents have preferred other companies rather than public and private companies.

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 7) Source of insurance?

News Television Agents and internet Direct friends Others

paper and and radio sales mail
magazine representative
4 4 21 18 0 25 8

source of insurance
30

25
25
21
20 18

15

10 8

5 4 4

0
0
Newspaper and Television and Agents and sales Internet Direct mail Friends others
Magazine radio representative

INTERPRETATION : regarding the source of insurance, 25 respondents got information

about insurance from friends and 18 respondents got information from internet and 21
respondents got the information from Insurance agents and sales representatives.

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 8) What made you buy insurance policy ?
Brand image Excellent My friends Marketing Impressed by Desire to try
of company cost record of people company ads out a new
performance insisted way and company
to buy promotions
34 10 16 5 5 10

What made you buy insurance policy

40

34
35

30

25

20
16
15
10 10
10
5 5
5

0
Excellent cost marketing people impressed by
Brand image of desire to try out a
record of my friends insisted way to company ads and
company new company
performance buy promotions
Series 1 34 10 16 5 5 10

INTERPRETATION: From the study, it is observed that, 34 respondents have based on

taken insurance policy based on brand image of company and 16 respondents have taken
insurance policy based on the suggestions they have got from the friends.

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 9) What is the main message that you get from the advertisement?
Risk Protection Long term Tax savings Provision others
coverage for the family savings for old age
13 24 19 17 2 5

Main message from advertisement

30

25 24

20 19
17

15 13

10

5
5
2

0
Protection for the Provision for old
Risk coverage Long term savings Tax savings others
family age
Series 1 13 24 19 17 2 5

INTERPRETATION: From the study, it is observed that, respondents have understood

insurance policy helps in protecting the family followed by helping in long term savings and
tax savings.

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 10) How do you make purchase decision of insurance products?
Consult other people Try to buy same Consulting Base my decision on the
to choose the best brand that my friends agents/advisor before brand value of company
alternative available have bought making final decision to and the product
buy
15 18 20 27

Purchase decision of insurance products ?

30
27

25

20
20 18

15
15

10

0
consult other people to consulting agents/advisor base my decision on the
try to buy same brand that
choose the best alternative before making final decision brand value of company and
my friends have bought
available to buy the product
Series 1 15 18 20 27

INTERPRETATION : From the study, we understood that, 33% respondents are making
purchase decision based upon the brand value of company and the products and 25%
respondents make decision through consulting agents and 22% are taking insurance policy
based on the suggestions from the friends and 20% of respondents are taking decisions by
consulting the people.

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 11) What is the reason that may have held you back from investing in
insurance products?
Lack of Returns not Promotional Not Inclination to Not
awareness lucrative measures not approached short term affordable
enough attractive by the lump sum
intermediaries gain
23 20 12 0 10 15

Reason that held you back from investing in Insurance products?

25
23

20
20

15
15

12

10
10

0
0
promotional inclination to short
retuns not not approached by
lack of awarness measures not term lump sum not affordable
lucrative enough the intermediaries
attractive gain
Series 1 23 20 12 0 10 15

INTERPRETATION : From the study, it is observed that, the major reason that have held
back from investing in insurance products is lack of awareness and the next reason is not
getting sufficient returns , followed by not affordable, not attractive promotional measures &
family inclination to short term lumpsum gain.

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Findings of the study:
 From the analysis it is found that 56% of the respondents have insurance policy with
public sector and 25% of other insurance and 19% have their private sector
 Only 15% of respondents are insured remaining 85% of respondents are not insured
 The major source of insurance from friends , agents and sales representatives.
 Brand image of company prompted highly to buy the insurance policy from the
company
 Protection for the family is the main message that respondents get from the
advertisement
 Respondents make purchase decision based upon the brand value of the company and
the products
 Lack of awareness is the reason that held you back from investing in insurance
products awareness and the next reason is not getting sufficient returns , followed by
not affordable, not attractive promotional measures & family inclination to short term
lump sum gain.

SUGGESTIONS :
 Insurance companies should educate individuals more on the available insurance
policies and suggest them which suits more to their requirements
 Insurance companies should bring new schemes in the market in order to attract more
people

CONCLUSION:
 Insurance industry is experiencing a sea change in India and is rapidly growing
AWARNESS should be created among the people towards insurance policies and try
to reach maximum no.of Individuals so companies should approach individuals
according to their requirements and serve them in a better manner with customized
policies.

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