Awareness of Health Insurance-Shifting Perspectives and Emerging Trends Ahire Neha1,*, Rishipathak Parag2 1Assistant Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences 2Director, Symbiosis Centre for Health Skills, Symbiosis International (Deemed) University, Pune, India *Corresponding Author: Neha Ahire, Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences, A Constituent of Symbiosis International (Deemed University) (SIU) Senapati Bapat Road, Pune-411004 (India), Email: nehaahire@sihspune.org
Online published on 4 June, 2019. Abstract Introduction Consumer awareness is one of the essential preconditions for regulated competition in health care. Studies carried out in various part of India as well as globally have shown that the major contributing factors to the health insurance are the age, gender, income marital status occupation and awareness. In this scenario, the need arises to study the existing health insurance marketing trends and understand the perspectives of the consumers to develop a concrete awareness plan to attract and retain them. Method A descriptive study was carried out to understand sources of awareness regarding health insurance policy in Pune City. The population was studied for the preferences of contemporary marketing and traditional marketing. The traditional marketing includes advertisement in newspaper, television, referral by friends and family members and word of mouth by insurance agents. On the other hand the contemporary sources of awareness includes mailers, Whats App marketing and use of social media platforms. Results Out of 269 respondents in the study, 118 had preferred traditional marketing and 112 quoted contemporary marketing as sources of awareness.29 respondents said that they came to know about the health insurance policies through traditional marketing but social media was helpful in providing additional details about the products. Use of social media platforms is a must in todays world and the younger generation is more inclined towards it. Conclusion The study shows preferences of both the traditional as well as contemporary sources of awareness by the study population. Health insurance marketing perspectives have come a long way from the traditional “agent-client relationship” to “click to buy” health insurance policies. Age and income affects preferences of awareness. Top Keywords Health insurance awareness, traditional sources, contemporary sources. Top |