INSURANCE

In law and business, contractual arrangement that provides for compensation by an insurer to an insured party if or when a specified set of circumstances occurs. Such circumstances may include death or personal injury, accident, unemployment or old age, loss of or damage to property, or any one of a number of instances that can be compensated for financially. The insurer conducts its operations by amassing relatively small contributions from many people who are exposed to the risk of occurrence of an unforeseen event in order to create a fund that is used to reimburse those insured who actually suffer from such an occurrence. The contributions of the policyholders are called premiums. A contract of insurance is embodied in a policy that specifies the terms under which the insurer agrees to indemnify the policyholder for loss in consideration of the payment of a stated premium or premiums.

IT (Information Technology)

Companies use direct marketing to communicate directly with their customers, rather than going through intermediaries such as retailers. It is an enormous growth area in marketing and includes the following activities: direct mail, telemarketing, direct response TV, and e-mail. It is an attractive communication tool as it allows a company to use a personalized approach, which is more warmly received by customers than impersonalized messages. As technology improves, marketers are able to target their messages, products, and promotions more closely to individual customer needs and desires. It is also an effective way to build up and develop longer-term relationships with customers.

E-Commerce

Abbreviation for electronic commerce, usually defined as the conduct of business online, via the Internet. Until recently, e-commerce was limited mainly to large companies and their suppliers, who connected their computers together to speed up ordering and payment systems. Today, millions of people are involved in e-commerce on the Internet—when, for example, they visit World Wide Web sites to buy books or CDs, order flowers or pizzas, or check their bank accounts.

Advertising

Messages are disseminated through numerous and varied channels or media. The major media in developed countries are newspapers and consumer magazines, television, direct mail, radio, the Internet, business publications, and outdoor and transport advertising. In addition, a significant amount of advertising is invested in miscellaneous media, such as window displays, free local newspapers and shopping-news publications, calendars, and even sandwich-boards.