Factors Critical In Marketing Strategies for UK Insurance Companies

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Study1

Overview of Insurance Industry of UK1

Research Aim and Objectives3

Research Questions3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Marketing Concept4

The Marketing Concept in the Insurance Industry5

Interpreting the Marketing Concept6

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY8

Research Method and Design Appropriateness8

Primary Research8

Quantitative9

Justification for Chosen Method10

Research Design and Process10

Participants10

Research Instrument10

Informed Consent11

Confidentiality11

Data Analysis11

REFERENCES12

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Insurance companies are non-depository financial institutions negotiating, calculating, manipulating, and managing society's casualty risks, including both business and personal life risks. Ward (2002, p. 507) examines the signalling power of dividend increases by insurance companies. They find the fluctuating magnitude of the market reaction to be lower, as a whole, for life insurance companies when compared with that of other insurers or industrial firms, but higher when compared with that of a controlled sample of banks.

Historically, insurance companies are not the highest profit margin companies, nor do they tend to be market trend leaders in most industrialized countries. Thus, one outcome of this study determines the "market-oriented focus" of insurance companies. It should be noted that when the term, market-oriented focus, is used, it means that the company has a customer and competition focused strategy or set of strategies.

Determination of a market-oriented focus has, historically, resulted in greater company profits, longevity, and industry prosperity. Moreover, numerous studies have shown that company interfunctional coordination is necessary in a market-oriented approach. The question that remains is what critical factors influence the market strategies of the insurance industry of UK.

Overview of Insurance Industry of UK

The insurance industry of UK includes both life insurance and non-life insurance sector. The life insurance sector of the industry includes morality protection and annuity. On the other hand, the non-life insurance sector of the industry includes accident and health, and property and casualty insurance segments. The insurance industry is dependent on various factors. These include economic as well as non-economic factors, which makes the future performance of the industry very difficult to predict. The forecast of the UK insurance given below provides a rough estimate of the direction the UK insurance industry is likely to move (Source: www.datamonitor.com).

The UK insurance industry has declined sharply in the year 2008. This decline continued after 2008 and has seen a positive growth again in 2010. The market is expected to achieve positive but fluctuating levels of growth from 2011 through to the end of the forecast period in 2015. The insurance industry of UK grossed premium worth $309.7 billion in 2010, compounding there growth to 3.1% between 2006 and 2010. In comparison, the German and French insurance industry grew compounded with annual growth rate of 1.4% to 2.7%, while grossing premiums worth $279.8 billion and $239.6 billion respectively in 2010. The life insurance sector of the insurance industry was the most profitable in the year 2010 and grossed written premiums of $213.6 billion and taking 69% percent of the market share. On the other hand, the non-life insurance segment contributed gross written premiums of $96.1 billion in 2010 and taking the ...