Obstacles to the realization of green marketing in Iran's insurance industry

Executive Management Master's Thesis

Abstract

In today's marketing, the cost of losing a customer is equal to losing the benefits of the service that customer needs in his lifetime. Insurance can be considered as one of the vital economic arteries of any country. The main goal of insurance marketing management is to attract new customers and retain previous customers and to create awareness in the field of insurance results.

The increasing growth of industries, vehicles and the increasing population in the world has made the human society think that the only place to live is this planet earth, and you should try to preserve and sustain its environment in every possible way. This fever and approach has been spreading in the world for two decades and they have gone to the processes that in this field management can also help to preserve the environment and maybe it can make more customers to their organizations.

With these interpretations in the stressful insurance industry in the coming years, one of the new marketing approaches that those present in this industry will think of using will be green marketing. Therefore, it goes without saying that in order to use these processes, the implementation solutions and implementation obstacles should be examined in advance and steps should be taken to resolve them.

In this research, considering the division of approaches in three areas facing the organization, customers and competitors, hypotheses have been proposed and investigated regarding the existence of obstacles in this case, and the results of the investigation of these hypotheses have been presented. Questionnaires were distributed and finally, by analyzing the obtained information, we reached the results that the insurance organizations, customers and competitors have not oriented towards using it due to the lack of understanding of green marketing concepts.

Key words: insurance industry, marketing, insurance marketing, green marketing

Chapter one:

General research

Introduction

Environment is increasingly becoming a vital and very important issue. It has become for all people. The goal of the marketing system is not to maximize consumption, give more choice to the consumer, or provide customer satisfaction, but the goal is to improve the quality of life to the highest possible level, and the quality of life does not only mean the quantity and quality of goods and services, but also the quality of the environment. The need to produce ecological products and green commercial activities has forced companies to combine environmental issues with marketing efforts and strategies. Green marketing is one of the areas of business that has been discussed a lot in environmental issues (Rex and Baman, 2007). In 1992, a study showed that for 93% of people, the environmental impact of a product is important when purchasing it. In 1994, researchers concluded that 42% of European consumers choose products based on environmental performance, and 27% of people in England buy products with more than 25% compatibility with the environment (Rex and Baman, 2007). The green products industry was estimated at more than 200 billion in 2006 (Jupta and Ogden, 2009). Companies have come up with green marketing. The production of ecologically safer goods, reusable and degradable packaging, more pollution control and monitoring, and operations that require more energy conservation are among the ways that companies have sought (Cutler and Armstrong, 1999, p. 853). With these interpretations, the concept of green marketing also evokes other things such as cost reduction and active presence in the field of competition. Considering the great need of the insurance industry for service marketing, the importance of marketing costs, the variety of methods and ways of attracting the audience, moving towards green marketing in this industry will be raised as a requirement in the near future. But what are the obstacles to the realization of this approach will be discussed in this research.

Part 1: Generalities of the research

1-1-         Statement of the problem

Maybe no one imagined that one day marketing, in addition to profitability and sales, will also be concerned about the health of the consumer and society. But the dynamics and intense competition and increasing concern about the environment, as well as government regulations and increasing consumer awareness, made companies to focus on the physical and mental health and cleanliness of the consumers' environment.. But the dynamism and fierce competition and increasing concern for the environment, as well as government regulations and increasing consumer awareness, made companies to reflect on the physical and mental health and cleanliness of the consumers' environment. Anyway, over time, concepts such as green marketing, environmental and social marketing entered the marketing literature to fulfill the social responsibility of companies (Dea'ei, 2018, p. 50). Currently, marketing based on social and environmental considerations has become one of the most important activities of companies. Since the first years of the 80s, marketing based on social and environmental considerations has gained a lot of fame (Cutler and Armstrong, 1999, p. 65). Green marketing is one of the areas of business that has received a lot of discussion in the press regarding environmental issues.

It can be stated that companies gain a competitive advantage over irresponsible companies through green marketing. There are many examples of companies trying to be more environmentally responsible in order to better satisfy the needs of consumers. Among those companies, we can mention insurance companies that have activities in this field in their work list. In order to create a competitive advantage, insurance companies need to develop a strategy for their organization. It is obvious that the implementation and implementation of the strategy is the next step of formulation and planning, which if it is not accompanied by the participation of the employees and effective change management, it will cause the developed strategies to remain ineffective.

In this field of competition, insurance companies can use green approaches, green products or green processes in their marketing to make good progress in gaining a competitive advantage over competitors.

2-1-        Necessity and importance of research

In today's marketing, The cost of losing a customer is equal to the loss of the service benefits that customer needs throughout his life. Therefore, it is important to meet the daily needs of the customer by providing these services, and insurance is no exception to this rule. Insurance can be considered as one of the vital economic arteries of any country. The efforts of insurance institutions worldwide are aimed at increasing efficiency. Therefore, one of the goals of management is to increase insurance resources, and this can be considered one of the responsibilities of insurance marketing management. The task of insurance marketing management is to train sales and marketing personnel, conduct research, plan, design and offer new services and develop a strategy. The main goal of insurance marketing management is to attract new customers and retain previous customers and create awareness in the field of insurance results. Green marketing is now beyond a paradigm and a special attitude, creating a competitive advantage for companies, organizations, and institutions. Green marketing is trying to save organizations and companies from liquidation. It is not a limitation, but an effective guide to promote and advance things. Companies can fairly evaluate and score their actions to determine their progress in green marketing. Despite this, it is the customers, good citizens, and consumers who can issue us a report card more and more before us (Amini, 2019).

It can be said that the green marketing approach does not focus only on satisfying the customer's needs. Rather, according to this approach, the needs of customers should be met in a way that is beneficial for the society as a whole. There are various principles for creating a competitive advantage and going green, which include the following opportunities.

First: The greenness of the production process often leads to improved resource efficiency, thus reducing costs in the company's structure and improving the company's competitive position compared to its competitors. make it stand out from the competitors. This will increase the value of the company for customers and increase customer loyalty and ultimately increase profitability. Companies are looking for short-term results and may have less commitment than the need for organizational processes in line with fundamental changes. Therefore, they may be less inclined to embrace a strategic green marketing approach. (Stewart and Salmon, 1997).

So it can be said that in green marketing, before important results are achieved, it requires spending time, commitment and resources.