CUSTOMER AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT GENERAL INSURANCE SERVICES: AN EMPIRICAL SURVEY IN MODERN ERA

Globalization and forces of competition has challenged the way in which business is operated. With the re-opening of insurance sector for private players, the increased number of sellers had to improve customer awareness and knowledge about their services. In the contemporary business environment, the creation of awareness and knowledge about insurance products by general insurance companies is imperative in order to retain in the market. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of awareness and knowledge among customers about general insurance services. The paper provides an overview on sources which are used by insurance players for creating awareness among consumers about insurance policies. The study explores that how customer awareness in insurance services affects the long term profitability of their customers

Thermomagnetic history effects in SmMn2_2Ge2_2

The intermetallic compound SmMn$_2$Ge$_2$, displaying multiple magnetic phase transitions, is being investigated in detail for its magnetization behavior near the 145 K first order ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition occuring on cooling, in particular for thermomagnetic history effects in the magnetization data. The most unusual finding is that the thermomagnetic irreversibility, [= M$^{FCW}$(T)-M$^{ZFC}$(T)] at 135 K is higher in intermediate magnetic field strengths. By studying the response of the sample (i.e., thermomagnetic irreversibility and thermal hysteresis) to different histories of application of magnetic field and temperature, we demonstrate how the supercooling and superheating of the metastable magnetic phases across the first order transition at 145 K contribute to overall thermomagnetic irreversibility.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Physical Review

First order metamagnetic transition in CeFe2_2 based pseudobinary alloys

We present results of dc magnetisation study showing that the low temperature antiferromagnetic state in various CeFe$_2$-based pseudobinary alloys can be transformed into ferromagnetic state through a magnetic field induced phase transition. We highlight the presence of hysteresis and phase coexistence across this metamagnetic transition and argue that the observed phase transition is of first order in nature.Comment: 11 pages of text and 9 figures ; to appear in Journal of Physics: Condens. Matte

First order phase transition from ferromagnetism to antiferromagnetism in Ce(Fe0.96_{0.96}Al0.04_{0.04})2_2

Taking the pseudobinary C15 Laves phase compound Ce(Fe$_{0.96}$Al$_{0.04}$)$_2$ as a paradigm for studying a ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic phase transition, we present interesting thermomagnetic history effects in magnetotransport as well as magnetisation measurements across this phase transition. A comparison is made with history effects observed across the ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition in R$_{0.5}$Sr$_{0.5}$MnO$_3$ crystals.Comment: 11 pages of text and 4 figures; submitted to Physical Review Letter

A Psychometric Analysis of The Behaviour of Online FMCG Buyers: A Study

General\Purpose: A market transition to Online e-tailers (Oe) from local Physical Retailers (PR) for daily requirements has huge insight. The aim of the present research is to analyse the factors influencing the behaviour of online FMCG buyers. Different online platforms offering a variety of FMCG have impacted their buying behaviour. The study has admitted comparative analysis of online FMCG buyers’ agreements considering factors such as Product Quality and Range (PQR), Price Competitiveness (PC), Information Availability About Products (IAAP), Ease of Security in Shopping (ESS) and Ease of Product Return (EPR) and its variables-items, in overall forming study framework. Approach to Study: The researcher has undertaken an Integrative Approach (IA) for both, related to the literature reviewed and the survey so far observed. Materials\Methods: Both primary data through well-structured questionnaires from 300 online FMCG buyers from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and secondary data from various published sources have been centred and cited to understand the syntactic research gap. The researcher has enforced Convenient Random Sampling to make the sample representative. Analytical Tools: The objectives were studied thoroughly and hypotheses were tested in SPSS. The researcher has used Kolmogorov-Smirnov (D-Statistic) and Shapiro-Wilk test (W-Statistic) to test data normality, Cronbachs’ Alpha to test Data Reliability, Descriptive Statistics i.e. frequency and per cent count to describe data and Chi-square to measure significant associations and differences if any. Results: The researcher has drawn an epilogue purely on the basis of data collected and analysed. PPIEE variable and is found to be significant and calculated statistics by chi-square 211.040 ? 101.879 and p (0.000) ? level of significance (0.05) show PPIEE and demographic factors influence the behaviour of online FMCG buyers. Research Value: The researcher has extended the literature gap to validate and explore PPIEE variable items. The results will be helpful in presenting adequate psychometric evidence to measure the value of PPIEE and its influencing impact on the behaviour of online FMCG buyers in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Thus, the scientific approach to studying these variable items will contribute towards the advancement of the online marketing of FMCG. Novelty/Originality of this study: This paper gives a unique insight into PPIEE in MM

Kosterlitz-Thouless transition and fluctuation effects in YBa<SUB>2</SUB>Cu<SUB>3</SUB>O<SUB>7-x</SUB> thin films

Fluctuation effects and temperature dependance of IV characteristics of c-axis oriented YBCO thin films on STO(100) have been investigated within the context of unbinding of vortex-antivortex pairs in the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition (KT) and Aslamazov-Larkin (AL) model. A critical jump in the nonlinearity parameter, &#945; (V=I&#945;), is found at the universal value of &#945; = 3. The broadening of the jump in the temperature dependance of &#945; and associated exponential inverse square root temperature dependance of resistivity above Tc indicate quasi bi-dimensional behavior in the YBCO system. The correlation between AL fluctuations and phase fluctuations (KT model) has also been studied