Creating Customer Value in Insurance Markets

Special issue call for papers from the International Journal of Bank Marketing

Guest Editor: Professor Dr. Peter Maas, Institute of Insurance Economics University of St. Gallen, Switzerland

Though many academics have endeavored in marketing related topics for the financial sector in its entirety, the insurance industry has to a large extent been excluded from such research. In addition, academic accounts of the insurance field have largely focused on risk, investment and actuarial issues rather than the exploration of traditional marketing concepts and their suitability for the insurance industry. As such, only a few papers have in fact addressed the topic of insurance marketing in the last decade. Consequently, new contributions reflecting the idiosyncrasies marketing in the insurance industry are urgently needed.

Apart from the scarcity of research on traditional topics of marketing in the insurance industry, the digitization of markets presents further incentive to understand newly emerging marketing concepts for insurers. Increased digitization in the insurance industry has given rise to a new generation of empowered customers, reducing information asymmetry and consequently resulting in vastly different consumer behaviors to what had been previously observed. Despite such developments, academics have neglected to delve into the field of changing consumer needs and the implications this may have from a marketing perspective on insurance.

This special issue aims to expand the limited research regarding insurance marketing. Its objective is twofold: firstly it will highlight traditional concepts of marketing and their relevance and suitability for the insurance industry. In addition, the current research in insurance marketing shall be delineated. The second goal is to address developing marketing trends of marketing in the insurance field resulting from new technologies and innovations. Particular emphasis shall thereby be placed on contributions outlining the changing role and needs of the customers due to a rapidly changing environment. Further, marketing strategies that capitalize on the changing customer needs and behaviors focusing on disruptive innovations and digitized business models shall be explored in greater detail. Specifically, the role of InsurTech companies in the insurance eco-system calls for further research.

Topics of special interest include, but are not limited to:

• Drivers of customer satisfaction and loyalty and their influence on performance
• Traditional insurance idiosyncrasies vs new dimensions of servicing
• Distribution concepts including the role of intermediaries, cross-industry competitors and new distribution channels
• Creating customer value through customer centricity
• Marketing initiatives to boost sales of insurance products
• Consumer behavior in the insurance industry along the customer journey
• New ways of "thinking insurance": The role of InsurTech firms

Submission Deadline: December 1, 2016

Submission Guidelines

Submissions will be reviewed by the Guest Editor. If suitable for publication it will be further subject to a double-blind review process. Submissions should be made through ManuscriptCentral

http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijbm

by December 1, 2016.

For additional information please contact the guest editor Prof. Dr. Peter Maas at peter.maas@unisg.ch

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