With the liberalization and entry of private companies in insurance, the Indian insurance sector has started showing signs of significant change. Within a short span of time, private insurance has acquired 13 per cent of the life insurance market and 14 per cent of non-life market. However, there is still a huge untapped demand for insurance. Insurance companies have a pivotal role in offering insurance products which meet the requirements of the people and, at the same time, are affordable. Some of the challenges faced by the insurance sector pertain to the demand conditions, competition in the sector, product innovations, delivery and distribution systems, use of technology, and regulation. To understand the growth and development and the future prospects of this sector, this colloquium addresses the following issues: What will be the demand for insurance? What types of innovative strategies of insurance education and awareness will we require to encourage the Indian consumers? With the changes following bank participation in insurance, will the nature of competition in this sector intensify? What kind of competitive and risk pressures will the insurance businesses experience? What are their implications for profitability, margins, and efficiency? The average size of the polices will continuously decline as the insurance companies increase the geographic coverage. As a result of this, the intermediation costs will go up. What are the implications of these on average costs? What will be the product market scenario? Has the insurance sector benefited from the knowledge base of global companies? To what extent have the technology gains in telecommunications, computer information, and data processing contributed to increased efficiency and productivity of insurance companies? The following key points emerged from the responses of the panelists: The future in life insurance will be determined by the increase in pure protection products, a refreshing look at unit-linked plans, launch of customized plans, and improved service levels. The insurance sector will grow steadily rather than rapidly. While the law and regulations are in place to ensure financial strength and solvency of insurers, the regulator's challenge lies in monitoring compliance. The opportunity for financial services is increasing all over the world. Big domestic companies with significant market shares in the local countries will have the opportunities to commence business in other markets. Keeping in mind the complexities of the industry, multi-product, multi-channel, and multisegment route needs to be followed for growth. The challenge of successfully implementing bancassurance lies in training the staff, integrating the insurance products, and ensuring best quality service. Agents in the insurance sector are critical for its success and, in order to gain competitive advantage, quality people are needed but attracting and retaining agents is a challenge.

Purpose Pricing is always a fundamental marketing element. In the digital marketing/e-commerce context, there are two universal phenomena: desire to micro-segment and customize, and the adverse reaction upon unfair perception of price. A third related question is how should firms consider price increases and decreases? Specifically, this paper aims to address the following three research and practice questions: What are the theoretical underpinnings of perception of fairness/unfairness in pricing, and what are the findings? What are the theoretical underpinnings of response to price increases and decreases? What should be online pricing strategy, consistent with the findings on (un)fairness perception of pricing and response to price increases and decreases? Design/methodology/approach The present approach is integrative review and critical analyses, and synthesis. The review dates back to 1960s, and is inter-disciplinary, including apposite findings in behavioral science, economics, marketing and operations management/research. The authors search for insights with significant empirical support to address these questions. Findings Perception of unfair price impacts consumer choice, probability of purchase, intent to buy and attitude to product/service/firm adversely. Consumers react differently to perceived unfair and fair prices. Consumers react more strongly and negatively to perceived unfair prices (compared to prices perceived to be fair) in their intent to buy and other related metrics. Consumers react differently to price increases and price decreases relative to the reference price. Consumers react more strongly to price increases than to price decreases. There is substantial heterogeneity in the magnitude of loss-aversion effect, depending on the product/service category and estimation methods. Originality/value The authors review and discuss potential viable pricing strategies. Based on the generalizable findings, this study provides actionable insights to managers for pricing in digital marketing context. Also, the authors provide useful directions for future research.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract