Using ZMET to Explore Mental Model of Life Insurance Commodities Consumer and Marketing Strategy

• Main Authors: Vincent Tang, 湯鼎漢
• Other Authors: none
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/8k259t

碩士 === 世新大學 === 傳播管理學研究所(含碩專班) === 96 === We have been knowing for a long time that insurance is able to provide security, not only can make the society stable, but also can enhance the development of economy by using the insurance capital. In recent years, due to the internal and external change of environment, financial insurance industry faces the challenges of internationalize and liberalization, that has encouraged vigorous competition in the domestic financial market and insurance market. After the polish of the internationalization, in the financial market, the industry is encouraging innovation of financial products. In addition, due to the prevalent culture of holding company structure, the difference between bank, securities business and insurance has become vague, the cross industry business model becomes the trends in the financial market. In order to survive in the competitive market or even to get the leading advantage, people serving in insurance industry try to understand their customers’ the consume motivation, the inter-relationship between desired image of financial planner and their expectation, as well as the target customers’ demand of difference. Considering all the above points to design the custom-fit product, together with an effective selling methodology, should be the right way to follow in today’s cross industry financial market. Professor Zaltman, of Harvard University Business School, first raise the Zaltman Metaphor elicitation Technique in 90s, or ZMET (Zaltman & Coulter, 1994; Zaltman & Coulter, 1995). ZMET is an innovative methodology to study consumer, which combines non-wording language (pictures) and wording language. Making use of metaphor, picture analysis and story as the main concept, to bring up the deep part of the interviewer. It uses the most basic way of communication – picture as the media, to extract the deepest way of thoughts and feeling of consumer to build a mental map showing the study result of the topic. This mental map includes the connected relationship of components and concepts, and explore the causal relationship. This research included 8 interviewees based on different topics (4 men and 4 women; 4 people working in financial industry and 4 people working in non-financial industry). They picked up 8-12 pictures that they thought suitable for the study topic, under the facilitation of the interviewer, following the steps in ZMET, to initial the interviewees to speak out their real feelings and thoughts. These are then made into the mental map, which includes the connected relationship of components and concepts, and explore the causal relationship. Then, based on all these data to work on the analysis, study and point out the whole picture related to research purpose, to understand causal relationship. 1. Difference between men and women’s mental model 1-1. For men interviewee, the core consensuses are assurance 、have peace of mind and specialty. 1-2. For women interviewee, the core consensuses are assurance 、have peace of mind and relationship of friend or relative. 2. Difference between financial and non-financial interviewees’ mental model 2-1. For financial interviewee, the core consensuses are assurance and specialty. 2-2. For non-financial interviewee, the core consensuses are assurance、have peace of mind and reliance. 3. According to the study, there is an obvious difference between men and women and financial and non-financial interviewees.