PES Business Review

M. V. Rama Prasad ¹, Upender Yennam ²

Affiliations
1 Dept. of Marketing, GITAM Institute of Management, IN
2 Indian Postal Services, IN

Abstract

Service Organisations especially the government-owned public-utility departments are realizing the significance of customer-centric philosophies and are increasingly turning towards quality management approaches worldwide. The Post Office, irrespective of the country is seriously reorienting itself to the present day needs of the customer in the wake of cut-throat compethion. India Post, the Indian Postal Department is also not an exception to it. Unlike other government departments, the role of post office is unique and indispensible considering the geographic spread and diversity of the country and the diverse servicing roles. The customer profile of a postal set up in terms of age, occupation, needs is quite divergent. It is very true to say that Post Office serves all sections of society equally though it has a legacy system. This research based paper focus to understand the nature of customers who come to Indian Post Offices and their preferences from the basket of diverse product portfolio. It also attempts to study the awareness level and their past purchase experiences with the Post Offices. This study attempts to study the association'between the product awareness and the purchase intentions. Also analyses the mail profile and maps the broad parameters on which the satisfaction of postal service hinges. The findings indicate the brighter side of the post office in terms of its product patronage in some areas and many action points to focus on by the policy makers. The design methodology is simple in nature and makes use of statistical techniques like Chi-square test, Pearson Correlation analysis. Future studies on Post Office can be built up on this to discretely study the predictive expectations and the perceptions of customers to draw conclusions so as to augment the service delivery, both, across the point of service terminal and outdoor.

Keywords

Post Office, Service Quality, Product Awareness, Past Experience.

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M. V. Rama Prasad ¹, Upender Yennam ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Marketing, GITAM Institute of Management, GITAM University, Visakhapatnam, IN
2 Postal Services, Visakhapatnam, IN

Abstract

This research-based paper aims to study the role of Post Office in covering the rural people under Rural Postal Life Insurance. It would through light on the life insurance industry in general in terms of coverage and post office in particular. A case study was also made out studying the insurance awareness and their preferences in four Districts of Andhra Pradesh covering the specific rural poor segments which are culturally distinct, sociologically backward and geographically remote. This study reinforces the fact that the future of insurance lies in the bottom of the pyramid. The findings suggest that the rural poor desire life insurance and are willing to save money for that. The study highlights the need to vigorously pursue the micro-insurance initiatives in the rural areas. This particular study is timely as financial inclusion is one of the top most priorities of the government despite the fact that there are major gaps in its policy formulation and implementation. It is a fact that only 3,500 villages have Bank branches in the constructed premises leaving 0.57 million habitations uncovered. In the pursuit, Post Office is an option which is in advantageous position compared to other insurers.

Keywords

India Post, Post Office Rural Postal Life Insurance, Insurance Awareness, Tribal People, Micro-Insurance.

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