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ABSTRACT
Life insurance industry in India has witnessed tremendous changes in the past decade, attributed to dynamic changes in micro and macro environment such as high competition, changing demographic profile of the customers, government regulations, product innovation and technology interface. Life insurance industry is evolved and transformed to a great extent, but still has a long way to go in terms of penetration and density. Although Life insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is a market leader, while competitors also have distinct competencies and made significant inroads in the market. It becomes imperative to examine the relative positioning of life insurance brands based on key service attributes. The correspondence analysis is used to develop perceptual map and determine the relative positioning of the life insurance brands with respect to salient attributes. The selected eleven service attributes are selected based on literature review. The study finds LIC, HDFC Life and ICICI Prudential are associated with positive corporate image and good distribution network. SBI Life and Tata AIA account are associated with positive customer experience. The study finds relatively homogenous segments based on proximity in perceptual map, generated using correspondence analysis. Life insurance organizations need to focus on the dimensions of corporate image distribution, and customer experience for improving relative positioning, subject to their distinct competencies and constraints.
Key Words: Perceptual Map, Correspondence Analysis, Life Insurance Brands and Positioning
INTRODUCTION
Life insurance is one of the key tax saving instruments for Indian investors under section 80C of the income tax act. Life insurance is a complex and high involvement product. In India life insurance is predominately sold by agents or advisors and perceived by customers as tax-saving instrument rather than risk coverage instrument. In 1956, that life insurance in India was nationalized and Life insurance Corporation of India (LIC) was established to protect the interests of the stakeholders. Life Insurance industry was opened to private players in 2000 with an objective to increase life insurance penetration and density in India. IRDA is an autonomous body set up under the IRDA Act, 1999 .IRDA's Mission is to protect the interests of policyholders and to regulate and develop the insurance industry. IRDA is also playing a key role in the development of insurance industry in India. Currently there are...