1. National Seminar on Emerging Issues in Indian Economy

2. CONSUMER PREFERENCE IN SERVICE INDUSTRY (WITH REFERENCE TO LIFE INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN LIBERALIZED ECONOMIC SCENARIO) By G.SUGUMARAN Research scholar , Asst. Prof. in commerce Kanchi Shri Krishna CAS Kanchipuram.

3. Life Insurance – A professional service Insurance is an important tool in the overall financial planning purview of any individual’s life. Potential buyers are driven to buying life insurance policy – security of money invested, saving for one or more specific purposes and the availability of tax benefits. It is characterised by high involvement of the consumers, due to the importance of tailoring specific need, the variability of the products available, the complexity involved in the policies and processes and ultimately the need to involve the consumer in every aspect of the transaction

4. Global Life Insurance Life insurance companies continue to experience modest growth in most lines of business. In 2008, statutory net operating gains for the industry are projected to rise from $33.1 billion in 2007 to $33.5 billion Seven issues for life insurance companies are identified by 2008 Outlook: Retirement Income, Financial Events, Technology, off shoring, Solvency II, International Financial Reporting Standards, Tax Issues and Implications. Processes like claim management, policy administration, accounting and underwriting were meted out to countries like India

5. Need for the Study The rising customer awareness and aspiration of quality service and availability of alternative service providers in the Indian market has made customers more demanding. Individual evaluates his insurance need, considering his age, following which he can arrive at a suitable protection and investment mix and tenure Life insurance companies have to understand the requirements of the customers.

6. Statement of the Problem The pre-purchase and post-purchase services perception and expectations from the services determines the quality and customer satisfaction from services. Poor persistency may be due to ‘churning’, where the salesperson persuades the policyholder to withdraw from an existing contract in order to switch insurers. The foundation for true loyalty lies in customer satisfaction.

7. Objectives of the Study To observe the current scenario of the Life insurance Industry in India. To identify and the attributes relating to customer expectation and their influence on the purchase of Life insurance products from LIC and PLIC.

8. Research Methodology Pilot Study- A preliminary investigation is undertaken by contacting 75 policyholders of selected companies. Main Study - This study is based on both primary data as well as secondary data. Data Collection -The primary data is collected from the policyholders of life insurance through a well framed questionnaire consisting of 27 prominent questions. The secondary data is collected from reports, journals, newspapers, magazines and websites.

9. Sample Size - In order to obtain different perceptions of customers of LIC and PLIC, totally 746 well framed questionnaires are circulated in different parts of Chennai city on a random basis. Out of 746, only 719 are returned. Among 719 questionnaires it is found that 700 as suitable for primary data analysis. Out of 700, it is found that 454 are customers of LIC and 256 are from selected PLICs. The top five private life insurance companies were chosen on the basis of the number of policies and premium collected.

10. Data Analysis The primary data collected in the form of responses from the customers are systematically analysed by identifying the independent as well as dependent variables. All the responses of the customers obtained through Likert’s Five Point Scale forms the domain of dependent variables and the questions about life insurance policies, information search and demographic background are taken up as independent variables.

11. Statistical Tools Used One sample t-test is used to ascertain the nature of opinion of respondents regarding the various consumer behavioural aspects of life insurance policies. One sample t-test is used to ascertain the nature of opinion of respondents regarding the various consumer behavioural aspects of life insurance policies.

12. Scope of the Study The study focuses on the consumer behaviour relating to the areas of customer preference, customer satisfaction, loyalty, repurchase decision and complaining behaviour of customers in the purchase of life insurance products. In the current scenario the life insurance business has become liberalized and competitive. It is found that exploring the behaviour of the customers will give an insight to life insurance companies to maximize their customers.

13. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS The study aims at ascertaining the awareness of the insurance product, the influence of advertisement, performance and guarantee, service quality, loyalty and persistency on customer satisfaction. Their opinion on regular income, agents recommendation and tax benefits are also explored. The research also, observes that information search on new schemes, transparency, bonus and adoption of innovative technology are also studied microscopically.

14. OPINION OF CONSUMERS ON SEARCH, EXPERIENCE AND CREDENCE ATTRIBUTES

15. Table shows that the LIC customers expectations of the life insurance products and services vs. the mean values range from 3.0381 to 4.0135 with varying standard deviations. It is observed that the standard deviations of some variables are less than 1 and some variables possess more variability with greater than 1 value. The one sample t-test table reveals that the t-test values are highly significant except appealing facilities and product features attributes

16. This shows that the consumers of LIC have high expectations on awareness of the product and advertisement. The great expectation of LIC consumers are regular income and proper agent’s recommendation. Transparency and extra coverage are steadfastly fixed in the minds of the LIC consumers for their personal benefits. The consumers are highly convinced on the adoption of innovative technology and competency in their dealing with LIC. Their expectation of the corporate image of LIC of India is very high.

17. The table also shows that the PLIC customers expectations of life insurance products and services vs. the mean values range from 3.0079 to 3.9843 with varying standard deviations. It is observed that the standard deviations of some variables are less than 1 and some variables possess more variability with greater than 1 value. The one sample t-test table reveals that the t-test values are highly significant except appealing facilities and product features attributes

18. This shows that the consumers of private life insurance companies have high expectation on awareness of the products and advertisement. The great expectation of the consumers of private life insurance companies are regular income and proper agents recommendation. Tax benefits and speed of decisions are highlighted by consumers of the private insurance companies in their expectation process. The consumers are highly convinced on the adoption of innovative technology and competency in their dealings with the private life insurance companies.

19. ENTRY OF PRIVATE PLAYERS With the entry of private players, the insurance landscape is witnessing a revolution. The post liberalization period has witnessed a manifold market. India’s enormous population and the ever growing middle class continue to offer positive figures to the insurers. Life insurance remains the primary focus of the state as well as non state players.

20. OPINION OF CONSUMERS ON FEATURES EXHIBITED

21. Table shows that customer’s opinion about the characteristics features exhibited by LIC Vs the mean values range from 3.3184 to 4.2085, with varying standard deviations. The one sample t-test table reveals that the t-test values are highly significant. This shows that the consumers of LIC feel that the Life Insurance products offered by the LIC of India exhibit the characteristic features like unique product features, quick delivery, product advice and simple payment system.

22. It is found that customer’s opinion about the characteristics features exhibited by Private Insurance Companies Vs the mean values range from 3.3031 to 4.2992, with varying standard deviations. The one sample t-test table reveals that the t-test values are highly significant. This shows that the consumers of Private Insurance Companies feel that the Life Insurance products offered by the Private Insurance Companies exhibit the characteristic features like reputation, product features, simple payment system and feedback from customers.

23. FINDINGS Opinion of customers on expectations, perceptions, various features of life insurance policies Transparency and extra coverage expectations are high in the case of LIC and the PLIC customers. The customers of both the sectors are of the opinion that the various characteristic features are present. The driving force for being loyal to LIC is Corporate Image and customer satisfaction whereas it is the corporate image for the private sectors. The customers of LIC have affinity with the agent whereas the customers of PLIC look for excellent services for being persistent.

24. CONCLUSION The business environment for the insurance sector is changing fast, bringing new opportunities as well as posing challenges. The opening up of the insurance sector to the private players has definitely been a positive development. The globalization of the sector has created many opportunities and challenges to the insurers. The first challenge comes from market turbulence. The second challenge comes from rapidly changing customer expectations. The last challenge is the organizational constraint.