INTRODUCTION

A Case study to analyse due effects of consumer risk perception while purchasing services through internet- study of insurance sector.

The Business of Insurance is related to the protection of the economic values of the assets. Every human being has the tendency to save to protect him from risks or events of future. Insurance is one form of savings where in people try to assure themselves against risks or uncertainties of future. It is assurance against risks or events or losses. People can save their earnings either in the form gold, fixed assets like property or in banking and insurances. All the savings of people of a country account for gross domestic savings. In India, although savings rate is high but people prefer to invest either in gold or fixed assets so that they can make money out of it. Hence insurance sector is still untapped in India. The question arises that why people are unsecure with insurance

RATIONAL OF STUDY

This study examines how consumer information processing affects consumers' perception of risk prior to purchase. In particular, this research focuses on pre-purchase information such as brand, word-of-mouth, and customized information. The results show that customized information and word-of-mouth communication influence consumers more than do other types of information from online auctions. Consumers rely on these two factors because they are based on consumer experience and relevant to product purchase. Nevertheless, brand also has a significant effect upon consumer perceived risk. Pre-purchase information processing is directly related to reducing consumers' risk perception. In particular, information processing associated with product performance plays a crucial role in reducing consumers' perceived risk in online transactions. The results offer insights to e-marketers and e-marketing researchers about the role of pre-purchase information in management and e-commerce.

FINDINGS OF STUDY

The findings that can be drawn from the survey conducted by us can be summarized in the following way: a) Bank Deposits are the most preferred investment alternative which is available to people followed by alternatives such as Insurance, Real Estate, Gold and Silver, Mutual etc. b) It was found that 61 respondents were willing to take a life insurance under LIC and 39 respondents under other private companies. c) Among the 100 insurance holders 63 have policy of LIC whereas only 27 respondents have policy of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. d) The scheme mostly preferred by insurance holders was life protection schemes like death benefits followed by money growth plans like wealth creation and high return plans. e) It was found that nearly 50% of the respondents usually save less than 15% and the kind of investment mostly preferred by the respondents were both long and short term.

QUESTIONNAIRE
A Study of Consumers risk Perception about Life Insurance Questionnaire Dear respondent, This questionnaire is aimed at understanding your perception about life insurance .Your response will be dealt with strict confidentiality and it will be used only for academic purpose. Thank you for spending your valuable time to fill this questionnaire.

1. Name: Contact No: 2. Age Group: Below 30 Above 60 3. Educational Qualification: Under Graduate Others (Specify). 4. Family member 2 to 4 5. Occupation: Student Others (Specify). 6. Annual Income Level: Below 1 Lakh Above 5 Lakh 31-40

Gender: Male

Female

41-50

51-60

Post Graduate

Diploma

4 to 5

5 to 8

Above 8

Employed

Self-Employed

1.01-3 Lakh

3.01-5 Lakh

7. What percentage of your Salary do you usually save? Less Than 15% Greater Than 25% 8. What kind of investment do you prefer? Short Term Long Term Both 15-20% 20-25%

9. Rank these various investment alternatives according to your preferences.

SNO 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Investment Alternatives Bonds & Debentures Equity/Shares Mutual Fund Public Provident Fund(PPF) Post Office Insurance Bank Deposits Real Estate Gold & Silver Other (specify). Rank

10. State your expectation on investment alternatives by ticking according to its importance.
Expectations on investment Highly important Important Safety Capital Growth Liquidity Return Tax Benefit Company Profile & Brand Name Neutral Least important Not important

11. D o you have life Insura nce Policy ? ( If NO then

please go to question no. 14) Yes No

12. If Yes Which Insurance Company Policy do you have? LIC Bajaj Allianz 13. What scheme of Insurance Policy have you taken? HDFC Standard ICICI Prudential Life protection plan Education plan Reliance life Others (Specify).. Retirement plan

Others (Specify). Money growth plan 14. What parameters do you look into before you take up a life insurance Policy? And tick the following parameter according to your importance. Health plan

Parameters considered before insurance policy Highly Important Premium Charges Policy Term Rider Benefits Bonus & Interest Services (Pre & Post Sales) Accessibility Company Image Neutral Important Least Important Not Important

15. Are you aware about the joint venture between ICICI bank with Prudential Plc of UK to form a first private sector insurance company called ICICI Prudential Life Insurance in December 2000? Yes No

15. Would you like to invest in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance? Yes No

16. If, YES what will make you to invest in ICICI Prudential Life insurance? Diversity Brand image Growth Potential Transparency Utmost Good Faith Others (Specify).

17. Among the following Life Insurance Companies in which company you will be Willing to take a life insurance?

Bajaj Allianz SBI Life Reliance Sahara OM- Kotak Mahindra

HDFC Standard Life ICICI Prudential Met Life ING Vysya ING Vysya LIC

Birla Sunlife TATA- AIG Max New York Aviva Dabur AXA-Bharti

18. Suggestions _______________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

Thank you

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDIES

a) To know about the various Investment alternatives that is mostly preferred by the people. b) To find out the important criteria that people think about before investing in a life insurance policy. c) To find out whether gender bias involved in investing life insurance or not. d) To find the way that what is the perception of the people of different age category in the society e) what are the risk involved in purchasing insurance and what may be the remedy for the same

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Methodology is a systematic way of solving a problem it includes the research methods for solving a problem it includes the research methods for solving the problem. Type of research Data source Data collection method Data collection tools Sampling universe Sample size - Descriptive research -Primary and Secondary data -Interview and survey -Questionnaires -Erode -100

SAMPLE DESIGN The target population of the study consists of various respondents of various places. This survey was done by collecting the data from the respondents.

SAMPLE SIZE After due consultation with the company supervisor as well as with the college guide, also keeping in mind the requirements of the company for the research, the sample size that was found to be appropriate for the study was 100.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE The sampling technique that adapted to conduct the survey was Convenient Random Sampling and the area of the research was concentrated in the city of Erode only. The survey was conducted by visiting different places like colleges, corporate offices, respondents home etc...