Marketing Death This page intentionally left blank MARKETING DEATH Culture and the Making of a Life Insurance Market in China CHERIS SHUN- CHING CHAN Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2012 by Oxford University Press, Inc Published by Oxford University Press, Inc 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chan, Cheris Shun-ching Marketing death : culture and the making of a life insurance market in China / Cheris Shun-ching Chan p cm Includes bibliographical references and index Summary: “Marketing Death is the first book to offer a penetrating sociological analysis of the emergence of a life insurance market outside of the Euro-American context Drawing on rich ethnographic data, it documents the processes and micro-politics through which local cultures shape the way a market is formed and, hence, sheds light on the dynamics through which modern capitalist enterprises are diffused to regions with different cultural traditions.”—Publisher’s description ISBN 978-0-19-539407-8 (cloth : alk paper) Life insurance—Social aspects—China I Title HG9169.C48 2011 368.3200951—dc23 2011018554 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper To my mother Cheng Suet King This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Illustrations xv Introduction Is China an Inviting Place for Life Insurance? Societal Conditions, the Market, and Remaining Puzzles 19 Defining Life Insurance and Product Development: Divergent Institutional Logics 51 Manufacturing Sales Agents: Cultural Capital and Management Strategies 76 Making Transactions: Selling Strategies and Sales Discourses 115 Buying Life Insurance : Multiple Motives but Consistent Preferences 143 How Culture Matters: Culture, Market, and Globalization 169 Appendix A : Methods 195 Appendix B: Life Insurance Companies in China: 2009 227 Notes 231 Glossary 245 Bibliography 247 Index 267 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments have long been surprising to friends and colleagues alike When friends and colleagues outside the circle of sociology first heard that my area of research was insurance, their common response was, “What has sociology got to with insurance?” And when sociology colleagues learned that my earlier work was on religion, they were also quite surprised by the disjunctive shift in my research areas Fortunately, it did not require much effort to convince my colleagues of the connection between my earlier work and my current project; all it took was a brief elaboration on my theoretical interest in the role of culture in making a life insurance market The idea of researching the emergence of life insurance in China was first inspired by Arjun Appadurai, who probably did not imagine that his 15-minute meeting with me would propel me into this project for 10 years now In our conversations about culture and modernity, Appadurai found the commensuration of the value of human life to a probabilistic calculation of risks sociologically intriguing Although the ultimate outcome of my project is not entirely about the commensurate logic of life insurance and modernity, I thank him for his stimulating conversation that triggered this project in the first place My deepest gratitude goes to my informants that, unfortunately, I cannot name individually here They include the sales agents, in-house managers and assistants, and life insurance clients and prospects I am especially grateful to the sales agents, who shared their invaluable time with me when they could have been prospecting clients and for their unreserved openness to me and trust in my research I warmly thank those friends who connected me to the field Cao Yang, Chen Xiangming, Fan Lizhu, James Farrer, He Min, Jane Hu, Hu Jun, Charlie Lu, Tracy Shu, Sun Han, Sun Jiaming, Sun Jiwei, Tang Nie, To Yushan, Wang Jiangguo, Wang Lihua, Calvin Wong, Wu Yuxiao, Terry Xu, George Yang, Yap Chong Huat, Terence Yip, Yu Hai, Yu Zhiyuan, Zhang Ji, and Zhao Dingxin all connected me to my informants in China My field research would have been impossible without their help In particular, I would like to acknowledge Zhiyuan’s MY RESEARCH INTERESTS 272 Index death (continued) supernatural powers in, 40, 234n17 taboo and puzzle of marketing , 5–8 debt, 33, 38, 233n16 Deng Xiaoping , 5, 19, 31 Denzau, Arthur, 77, 232n7 DiMaggio, Paul, 10–11, 119, 143, 232n7 dirty money, 8, 180 dirty work, 78–80 discourses See sales discourses divergence explaining pattern of, 73–75 in institutional logics, 56–58 of life insurance and product development, 51–75 in sales agents’ images, 80–82 dividend insurance (fenhong xian), 68, 136–37, 154 See also participating policy local preference for, 48, 49, 61–69, 76 market growth with, 69, 190–91 with money management market, 48–49, 65–67 Dobbin, Frank, 168, 232n9 domestic insurers battle between foreign and, 58–73 contribution to market growth, 22–23, 47, 61–65, 66–69 creating money management market, 61–71, 171–73 dealing with cultural resistance, 57–58, 62–64, 66–68 financial losses, 66 in post-1949 period, 21 in pre-1949 period, 20 in response to local preferences, 62–64, 66–68 local interpretation of life insurance, 61–65 market share, 61, 66, 72 market-share operation of, 57–58, 61, 63–65 product development of, 61–68, 71 public listing , 72 revival of, 22–23 sales discourses, 133, 136–38, 140 doors, iron, 29, 232n8 dramaturgical interaction, 123–30 performance, 17, 110, 125, 123–30 strategies, 123–30 dual-process model of culture, 177 economic action, culture shaping , 232n7, 232n9 economic calculation, 143, economic conditions, 5, 8, 24, 160, 25–26, 31–34 birth of new middle class, 24–25, 32 growth and rising purchasing power, 24 job insecurity, 25–26 economic immortality, 40 See also good death 18 levels of hell, 37, 233n13 Eight-Power Allied Armies, 239n15 employment, 25–26 endowment insurance, 21, 54, 57, 63, 68, 183, 192–93, 235n1, 245 See also annuity insurance enterprises See companies; state-owned enterprises Ericson, Richard, 237n24 the “-est” (zuei), 242n23 ethnography or ethnographic, 12–13, 15–16, 33, 43, 52, 73, 95, 169, 174, 182, 195–203 ethos See child-centered ethos Index etiquette li (ritual, rite, propriety), 236n12 of renqing See renqing evil, necessary, 78–80 fa or falu (law), 236n12 See also li face amount or face value, 245 face definition, 120 giving , 22, 93, 120–21, 144–45, 152, 223 losing , 120 fads stock market, 154–56 unit linked, 58, 66–69 Falun Gong , 239n19 family, 29 centered ethos, 34–35 obligations of living and dead members in, 40, 234n17 Pacific-Aetna as warm, 96–101 size, 6, 27–28, 43, 141 urbanization influencing , 28 Farrer, James, 34 fatal accident(s), 41, 164 misfortune(s), 4, 41, 117, 173 fate, 150 See also predestination favors, 144–45 See also renqing Fei Xiaotong , 35 fictive kin, 130–32 fieldwork, summary of (2000–2004), 203t profiles of interviewees, 203–5 Fine, Gary, 167 flattery, 101 Fligstein, Neil, 74, 77–78, 109 foreign insurers battle between domestic and, 58–73 bringing new sales and marketing methods, 58–60 273 creating risk management market, 59–60, 65–66, 191–92 dealing with cultural resistance, 16, 52 in post-1949 period, 21 in pre-1949 period, 19–21 institutional logics and profit-oriented operation of, 56–57 market share, 60–61, 65 product development of, 16, 59–60, 68–69, 71, 185–86, 191–92 reentry of, 23–24 risk management as new concept, introducing 59–61 sales discourses, 133–35 with AIA’s pioneer role, 59–61 fortune money (lishi), 242n8 Fourcade, Marion, 192 Fowler, Geoffrey, 233n14 Friedland, Roger, 56 friendships business relationships blurring line between, 241n11 cultural schemas of, 118–20, 122, 164 help from, 42, 119–20, 124–25, 232n7 GDP See gross domestic product Geertz, Clifford, 231n6 Gemeinschaft (community), 28 gender roles, 130–32, 174 Germany, 102–3, 176 See also Allianz-Dazhong Life Insurance Company, Ltd Gesellschaft (society), 28 gifts, 147, 153 globalization culture and market with, 169–93 global-local dynamics, 13–15, 156, 181–84 of modern capitalism with culture, 181–84 274 Index Go, Julian, 243 Goffman, Erving , 120 Goldman Sachs, 72, 90 good death, 7–8, 43–44, 52, 167–68, 171, 172f as cultural obstacle, 39–41 without debt in U.S., 233n16 good life, 39–44, 52, 55, 154, 167–68, 171, 172f, 177, 213 Gorer, Geoffrey, 37 Gouldner, Alvin, 36 government, supportive attitude of, 30–31 Greenberg, Maurice, 238n6 gross domestic product (GDP), 4, 24, 42, 44, 182 growth consumer price index and rate of, 234n19 dividend insurance, 69, 190–91 in Hong Kong with life insurance, 183 in Japan with life insurance, 192–93 in Taiwan with life insurance, 182–84 life insurance premium income and real rate of, 4–6, 45–46, 69, 73, 191 of life insurance in relation to GDP and per capita disposable income, 46f of property insurance, of unit linked insurance, 66–69 of whole life policies, 184, 191–93, 236n2 patterns of life insurance, 190–93 guanxi (interpersonal relationships), 31, 63, 92, 115, 132, 197, 241n13 and interpersonal trust, 35–36, 119–21 and renqing, 17, 22, 35–36, 64, 92–93, 118–21, 123, 130–32, 144–45, 152–54, 167, 171–72 in economic transactions, 36, 118–19, 121 in life insurance sales, 118–19, 121–27 reciprocity, fictive kin and gender roles in making , 130–32 renqing’s decline and limits of, 121–23 selling self and making , 123–30 Guillen, Mauro, 77 Haier New York Life Insurance Company, Ltd., 201, 228 Hamilton, Gary, 177–78, 189 Hanser, Amy, 239n14 Healy, Kieran, 192 hell, 37–40, 233n13 help difficulties of informal mutual, 27–29 from friendships, 42, 119–20, 124–25, 232n7 Hertz, Ellen, 33, 67 Hong Kong AIA management teams from, 85–86 crime rate in, 232n8 exchange rate, 237n30 life insurance market’s growth in, 184 managers compared to Taiwanese managers, 113–14 population, 232n8 stock market, 187 housing , 26, 28, 33 HSBC Group, 71–72, 187 Huber, Richard, Huebner, Soloman, 42 huibao (returns), 51, 55, 136–37 huikou (rebates), 122 human life, sacredness or priceless of, 8, 173, 179 hypothesis or hypotheses, 9, 19 41, 43–50, 52, 74, 82, 179, 189 Index ideas new and foreign, 32–34 shared, 171, 172f, 176, 181, with values and beliefs, 171, 172f, 174, 175, 176, 182, 232n7 ideology, 77, 80, 232n7 images of insurers, 82–85, 90–91, 96, 102 of professionals, 87 sales agents’ divergent, 80–82 indebtedness, 36, 125 See also renqing indigenization See localization inflation rates, 42 ING Group, 187–89 in-house management See management institutional conditions, 24, 26–27, 30–31, 50, 116, 141, 154, 167–68, 170, 176, 178, 192–93 See also economic conditions China’s economic and, 24–31 government’s attitude and legalization, 30–31 urbanization and difficulties of informal mutual help, 27–29 welfare and eroding state provisions, 26–27 institutional logics divergent, 16, 52, 56–58 of life insurance, 52–54 of profitability, 52–54, 56–57, 74 institutionalization, 14 institutions, 17, 54, 140–42, 153–54, 167–68, 175–76, 181, 243n3 instrumental rational, 13, 31, 77, 108, 113, 170 insurance See life insurance insurance handbook, first in China, 20 insurance industry domestic insurance’s revival in, 22–23 foreign insurance’s reentry in, 23–24 reappearance in China, 22–24 U.S., 7–8 275 Insurance Yearbook, the Republic of China, 244n7 insured amount, 22, 48, 55, 59–60, 63, 135–37, 163, 180, 245 insurers See domestic insurers, foreign insurers, and life insurance companies interest rates, 55, 64, 66, 120, 133, 146, 153–55, 167 interpersonal obligation See renqing interpersonal relationships See guanxi interviewees socioeconomic profiles of clients and prospects, 204t–205t socioeconomic profiles of insurance practitioners, 204t interview questions clients (2000–2002), 211–13 clients (2004), 213–14 managerial staff, 209–11 prospects, 214–15 sales agents, 205–8 investment for profit, 154–56 insurance See life insurance products meaning of, 154–56 premiums yielding profits from, 54, 57 IPA coverage See integrated personal accident coverage iron rice bowl system, 25, 168 Japan, 20, 192–93, 242n23 Jeffery, Lyn, 33, 238n1 Jepperson, Ronald, 177 John Hancock Tianan Life Insurance Company, Ltd, 240n28 See also Tianan Life Insurance Company, Ltd Kahneman, Daniel, 74 Kalberg, Stephen, 231 276 Index karma, punishments for bad, 37–38, 233n13 kinship, 28–29, 34, 42, 119–20, 124–25, 232n7 Lamont, Michele, 141, 174–75 law, 113 See also fa; falu as without virtue, 236n12 first formal insurance, 30–31 natural, 38, 39, 40 leaflets, insurance product, 118, 124, 129, 140 Lee, Ching Kwan, 27 legalization of life insurance business, 30–31 Leidner, Robin, 79, 80, 116–17, 123, 202 LES policy, 60, 68 Levi-Strauss, Claude, 175 Li, Hongmei, 111–12 life Chinese concept(s) of, 7, 37–40, 42, 43, 44, 52, 55, 154, 167, 168, 171, 172f, 177, good, 39–44, 52, 55, 154, 167–68, 171, 172f, 177 retirement and quality of, 41 taboo on premature death with concepts of, 7, 37–39 life insurance battle over concept of, 58–66 benevolent meanings imbued in, 135 cultural resistance to, 4, 7, 11, 15, 59–60, 73, 116, 133–36, 163–67, 170–71, 173 foreign concept of, 11, 16, 20, 59–61, 65–66, 88, 119, 140, 173, 175, 183, 237 group, 22, 59–61, 232n8 in Britain, 8, 34, 53, 116, 143, 235–36n1 in Britain, 34, 53, 116, 235n1, 237n24 in China and historical background of, 19–21 in Hong Kong , 17, 52, 56, 60, 74, 112, 183–84, 192 in Japan, 192–93 in making of culture, 178–81 in Taiwan, 8, 17, 52, 74, 96, 97, 182–84, 191 in U.S., 7–8, 24, 35, 53, 67–68, 79, 116, 143, 173, 235n1 individual, 13, 48f, 60, 67, 75, 183 institutional logic of, 53–55 local interpretation of, 61–65, 163, 167 main policy 163, 245 penetration, 4, 6f, 44 premium income of, 4–6, 44, 45–46, 48–49, 54–55, 61, 67, 76, 103, 183–85, 187, 189–91, 235n24 product development of, 57, 59–73 profitability of, 53–55 life insurance buyers See also clients meaning construction, 143, 144, 167 perceived functions of life insurance, 158t, 158–60 preferences and choices of products, 55–56, 144–63 subjectivities, 144, 154, 178 life insurance, buying by chance or misunderstanding , 149–50 cultural logics of preferences, 163–67 culture, institution and action with, 167–68 explanation of, 143–44 for multiple reasons, 150–52 for savings, 150–51, 153–54 for yanglao (retirement), 148–49, 151–52 gifts, 147, 162 as investment, 148 Index motives for, 17, 144–57, 167–68, 171 peers influence and showing off, 145–47 preferences, perceived functions and choices of products, 157–63 rationale(s), 152–57 renqing and favors, 118–21, 144–45, 150 life insurance companies battle between foreign and domestic camps, 58–73 domestic See domestic insurers foreign or transnational See foreign insurers in China up to 2009, 227–30 Sino-foreign joint ventures, 4, 11, 13, 16, 21–23, 58–59, 65–66, 73, 76–77, 85–86, 96–97, 102–3, 107, 126, 149, 170, 187–88, 190, 198, 209, 219, 222, 240n28, 244n8 life insurance products, 21, 68–69, 71–73 annuity, 54, 63, 101, 221, 231, 235, 245 critical disease policy, 71, 135–36, 151, 156–57, 179 divergent pattern between foreign and domestic camps in developing , 73–75 endowment, 21, 54, 57, 63, 68, 183, 192–93 hospital care insurance, 133, 137, 150, 157, 161t, 162–63, 168, 231n4, 235n24 integrated personal accident (IPA) coverage, 157, 162 local preferences and choices of, 16, 52–57, 61–65, 74, 76, 101, 157–63, 170, 171, 173, 184–85 money management, 17, 49, 53–57, 74, 93, 101, 120, 133, 150, 156, 277 158, 161t, 161, 168, 170–71, 183, 185–87, 190–92, 235n24, 236n6 participating policy (dividend insurance), 54, 68, 145 profitability and conflict with local preferences, 53–56 rider, 137, 150, 163, 245 risk management, 49, 50, 55–57, 71, 137, 157, 162, 168, 171, 183–84, 235n24, 236n6 term life, 22, 53, 54, 60, 88, 137, 163, 193, 231n4, 235, n24, 236n1, 245 unit linked, 48, 49t, 49, 58, 66, 67–72, 145–46, 148, 151–52, 154, 156, 161t, 161, 185–87, 190–92, 235n24, 235n25 whole life, 22, 53, 54, 60, 63, 68, 71, 72, 88, 135, 140, 147, 150, 161, 183, 191, 192, 193, 231n4, 235n24, 236n2, 245 life insurance, selling See selling strategies local preferences, 10, 16, 52–53, 55–57, 74, 76, 101, 170–71, 173, 184–85 cultural logics of choices and, 163–67 with perceived functions and choices of products, 157–63 local resistance See cultural resistance localization, 70, 73, 77, 81, 85, 97, 102, 102–3, 111, 181–82, 184, 186, 189–90, 192, 198 Mackenzie, Donald, 178 Madsen, Richard, 238n6 Ma Mingzhe, 47, 61, 91 management Allianz-Dazhong’s German-headed, 102–3 278 Index frustrations of Allianz-Dazhong’s in-house, 106–8 influence of managers’ cultural capital on, 108–14 mutual flattering between Pacific-Aetna sales agents and in-house, 101 Pacific-Aetna’s Taiwanese-headed, 96–97 Ping An with local Chinese and Taiwanese in, 91–92 Ping An’s submissive sales agents with authoritative in-house, 94–96 strategies in relation to cultural capital, 76–114 teams at AIA, 85–86 tensions between AIA’s sales agents and in-house, 89–90 Manulife-Sinochem Insurance Company, Ltd., 65, 86, 183, 195, 198, 227, 237n19, 242n14 accident insurance with, 150–51 participating policy with, 68 whole life policy with, 147, 150 Mao Zedong , 21, 27, 31 market culture and globalization with, 169–93 emergent life insurance, 44–45, 50 formation, 14, 19, 43, 53, 171, 172f, 232n9 growth of life insurance, 45–50, 69, 190–91 money management, 47–50, 172f, 173 money-cum-risk management, 11, 173, 191, 193 reforms, 22, 26 risk management, 11, 50, 53, 173, 183, 190, 193 risk-cum-money management, 11, 53, 192 setback, 65–66, 184–85 social construction of, 14, 172–76 marketization, intensified, 31–32 market share domestic insurers’, 47, 48f, 61, 62f, 65–68, 72, 76, 187, 191 foreign insurers’, 48f, 61, 62f, 65, 189–90 of individual life insurance business in Shanghai, 48f of life insurance business in Shanghai, 61, 62f market share model, 73, 170 medical care, 26, 30, 71, 138, 139, 141, 157, 160, 162, 167, 168, 232n6 medical reform, 30, 71, 141, 157, 162, 167 Meldrum, Stephen, 91, 136 Merton, Robert, 231n6 methods coding and sample statements, 222–25 ethnography and data collection, 195–202 fieldwork and profiles of interviewees, 203–5 interview questions and questionnaires, 205–22 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 244n8 Meyer, John, 189 Microprocesses of economic practice, 12 of transaction(s), 115 with macroforces, 12 middle class, birth of new, 24–25, 32 migrants, rural, 27–28 Millo, Yuval, 178 misunderstanding, life insurance purchased through, 149–50 money, 55, 93, 163, 242n8 Index commissions as begging for, 121–23 dirty, exchange rates, 237n30 meaning of, in relation to misfortunes, 179–80 premiums as waste of, 136–37, 151, 162–64, 171 money management as perceived functions of buying life insurance, 55–56, 63–65, 222–23 insurance products, 54, 63–64, 66–69, 235n24 local definition of life insurance as, 55–56, 63–64, 157–67 market, 47–50, 172f, 173 sales discourse, 93, 133, 136–38, 223 morale of sales agents AIA’s, 89, 184, 77, 89 Allianz-Dazhong’s, 77, 81, 170, 77, 81, 104, 106–7 Pacific-Aetna’s, 16, 77, 81, 98, 100, 113, 185, 87, 188 Ping An’s, 77, 93, 170, 186 moral obligation, 34, 39–41, 116, 117, 143, 174 Morals and Markets (Zelizer), 7–8, 115, 173 Morgan Stanley, 72, 90 mortuary tontines, 235n1 motives and meanings, 144, 153 change of, 153–57 for buying life insurance, 152–57 Murphy, Sharon, 237n24 mutual help, 27–29 Nan Shan Life Insurance Company, Ltd, 97 National Mutual Life Association, Ltd., 183 279 need a feeling of, 9, 139, 140, 152 a sense of, 115, 117, 118 neoliberal reforms, 239n14 New Year money, 242n8 North, Douglass, 74, 77, 232n7 numbers, symbology of 9, 242n8 Oakes, Guy, 80, 116–17, 123, 202 obligations, 40, 234n17 See also renqing interpersonal, 17, 22, 36, 64, 92, 120, 121, 145, 171 moral, 34, 39, 116, 117, 143, 174 obstacles See cultural obstacles one-child policy, 28–29, 35, 40, 42, 49, 141 organizational culture, 15, 17, 75, 82, 96, 102, 189, 190, 198 of AIA, 82–90 of Allianz-Dazhong , 102–8 of Pacific-Aetna, 96–101 of Ping An, 90–96 organizational strategies, 15–16, 72, 111 of domestic insurers, 15, 57–58, 61–73, 90–96 of foreign insurers, 15, 56–57, 59–61, 65–66, 82–90, 96–108 Orru, Marco, 178, 189 Pacific-Aetna Life Insurance Company, Ltd., 13, 57, 65, 170, 196–200, 238n6 accident insurance with, 138–39 agency management and managers’ cultural capital at, 109–14 caring angels at, 101 changes in 2004, 187–89 commission rates, 98 different from other insurers studied, 83t–84t market share, 76 280 Index Pacific-Aetna (continued) mutual flattering between in-house managers and sales agents at, 101 premium income of, 76 products, 69 sales agents as family members and bosses at, 96–101 sales agents’ morale at, 77, 81, 98, 185 sales agents’ psychological attitude at, 100 Taiwanese-headed management at, 96–97 Parsons, Talcott, 231n6 participating policy, 68, 245 See also dividend insurance Pellow, Deborah, 28 penetration, life insurance, 4, 6f, 44 pension scheme, 26–27, 30, 34, 63, 90, 97, 141, 146, 153–54, 162, 167–68 pensions, 26–27, 153–54 People’s Bank of China, 22, 31 People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC), 21–23, 59, 60–61, 62f, 82 People’s Republic of China (PRC), 21–23, 82 PICC Life Insurance Company, Ltd., 229 PICC Property Insurance Company, Ltd., 23, 230 Ping An Insurance Company of China, Ltd (Ping An), 144, 170, 198–202, 237n23, 238n6, 239n21, 243n24 accident insurance with, 62 AIA’s conflicts with, 51–52 as authoritative parent, 90–96 as publicly traded company, 72 changes in 2004, 186–87 critical disease policy, 71, 151 different from other insurers studied, 83t–84t guanxi and renqing at, 118–21 local Chinese and Taiwanese in management at, 91–92 market share, 47, 61, 67 market-share operation of, 58–59 name change, 22–23, 230 property insurance at, 22, 61 punishment-oriented system at, 95–96 retirement insurance with, 63, 120 sales agents and in-house management at, 94–96 sales agents as money-making crowds at, 92–94 sales agents’ morale at, 77 unit linked crisis and lessons of, 69–71 unit linked fad and miracle of, 66–69 whole life policy with, 63, 72 with local interpretation of life insurance, 61–65 with shrinking market, 184–85 Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd., 23, 47, 227, 230 See also Ping An Insurance Company of China, Ltd Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, Ltd (Ping An), 13, 23, 230 See also Ping An Insurance Company of China, Ltd policies See also life insurance products estimated numbers of, 49f in force in China, 234–35n20 in force in Hong Kong , 183, 192 in force in Shanghai, 44, 234n20 in force in Taiwan, 183–84, 191 population changes in structure of, 153–54 Chaozhou, 234n17 Index China, 24 Hong Kong , 232n8 positive mental attitude, 79–80 predisposition(s), 12, 154, 167, 168 privatization of medical care, 71, 141, 157, 162 of pension scheme, 154, 167 PRC See People’s Republic of China predestination, 10, 150 preferences See local preferences premature death See death premium income, 4–6, 44, 45–46, 48–49, 54–55, 61, 67, 76, 103, 183–85, 187, 189–91, 235n24 premiums, 122, 150 as percentage of GDP, 182 as waste of money, clients perceiving , 136–37, 151, 162–64, 171 for accident insurance, 48 increase in, 146 personal accident insurance and mean annual, 235n25 profits from investment returns of, 54, 57 rural migrants and inability to pay for, 27–28 priests, 110, 116 principal nonreturning , 55, 168, 186 returning , 55, 69, 145, 168 product development battle between foreign and domestic camps in, 58–73 conflict between profits and local preferences with, 53–56 divergent institutional logics with, 56–58 pattern of divergence explained with, 73–75 production market, 52 281 professionals AIA model of standardized scripts and, 116–18 AIA’s sales agents as independent, 86–89 image of, 87 profit-oriented model, 53, 170 foreign insurers’, 56–57 profits conflict between local preferences and, 53–56 from investment returns of premiums, 54, 57 investing for, 154–56 of life insurance, 53–55 projections of market, 184–85, 190–93 property insurance, 23, 231n4 at Ping An, 22, 61 growth of, prospects, life insurance interview questions for, 214–15 questionnaire for, 219–22 The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Weber), 10 psychological attitudes (xintai), 238n1 as key to success, 79 at Pacific-Aetna, 100 of sales agents, 77, 80, 97, 109 punishments at Ping An, 95–96 for bad karma, 37–38, 233n13 with social order and control with fa, 236n12 puzzles of market growth and characteristics, 19, 43–50 of market growth with taboo on death, 5–8 quality See suzhi questionnaires, 195 for clients, 217–19 282 Index for prospects, 219–22 for sales agents, 215–17 interview questions and, 205–22 questions about death and evasive answers, interview questionnaires and, 205–22 rebates See huikou reciprocity, 17, 31, 36, 40, 44, 64, 92, 115, 119, 123, 130–32, 153 reforms economic, 19–21 era, 26 management, 91, 103, 187, 189 market, 22, 26 medical, 30 neoliberal, 239n14 pension, 26–27 social insurance, 156–57 relationships, interpersonal See guanxi renhai zhanshu (human-sea strategy), 63 renqing (interpersonal obligation), 22, 64, 92, 118 baodan, 120–21, 123, 132, 145 favors and, 144–45 motives for buying life insurance, 118–21, 144–45, 150 perceived functions of buying life insurance, 223 with trust and gifts, 153 retirement, 223 See also yanglao benefits, 26 concerns about, 58, 101, 141, 152, 160 fund, 136–37 good life with, 154 male and female respondents on, 160 pension fund, 27 quality of life after, 41, 156 retirement insurance, 63, 120 returns See huibao rhetoric business, 110, 225 familial, 96–101, 225 missionary, 86–89, 116, 224 money, 224 professional, 224 risk avoidance, 57, 74, 157 managing , 131, 153, 156 selective attention to, 41, 44, 168, 172f taking , 58, 70, 74–75, 143, 155, 187 risk management a new concept of, 59–61 existing practices through savings, 41–42 perceived functions of buying life insurance, 156–57, 223 products, 137, 236n6, 237n19 products with sales volume, 235n24 sales discourse, 223–24 through interpersonal care, 42 risk perception, 39–41, 52, 156 as cultural obstacle, 39–41 with fate, 150 with social insurance reforms, 156–57 with unit linked insurance, 60–70 Rowan, Brian, 189 Sahlins, Marshall, 144 salaries, 59, 87, 148, 179, 240n7 sales agents assemblies for, 13, 87, 95–96, 99, 105, 195, 198, 200, 203t, at AIA, 86–90 at Allianz-Dazhong , 103–8 at Pacific-Aetna, 97–101 at Ping An, 92–96 Index divergent images of, 80–82 dropout rate of, 78–79 interview questions for, 205–8 management of, 108–14 productivity rate for, 240n32 psychological attitudes of, 77, 79–80, 80, 97, 109 questionnaire for, 215–17 training , 13, 22, 54, 88, 89, 90, 93, 95, 98, 103, 104, 107, 117, 133, 134, 195, 198, 199, 200, 203t, 204, 238n1, 239n21 with dirty work and necessary evil, 78–80 sales discourses AIA model with standardized scripts and, 116–18 explanation of, 132–33 on need for life insurance, 132–40 selling strategies and, 115–42 successful, 136–38 switching from unsuccessful to successful, 138–40 unsuccessful, 133–36 salesman, knowledgeable, 127–28 sales talks See sales discourses sales teams, productivity rate for, 240n32 sales volume, 63, 65, 76, 86, 88, 89, 100, 129, 170, 185, 186, 189, 235n24 saleswoman, professional, 128–30 sample statements, coding and, 222–25 savings, 150–51 as a cultural practice, 41–42 for yanglao and managing risks, 153–54, 156–57 of city households, 24, 41–42 rates in China as compared to other countries, 41, 154 scripts, standardized, 116–18 See also sales discourses 283 security deposits, 94 Self-Strengthening Movement, 20 selling strategies cultures, institutions and sales discourse with, 140–42 discourses on need for life insurance, 132–40 getting started, 116–21 guanxi’s limits and decline of renqing with, 121–23 linguistic framing , 60 money as motivator, 93 reciprocity, fictive kin, and gender roles in making guanxi, 130–32 sales discourses, 17, 115, 132–40, 182 with self and making guanxi, 123–30 Sensenbrenner, Julia, 33, 35 Sewell, William, 175 Shanghai annual premium cost in, 241n15 as a case study, 12–13, 43 as insurance hub of China, 12–13 as international settlement, 12 crime rate in, 232n8 household size, 28 market growth in, 45–47, 49, 58, 66, 69, 71, 73, 190–91 market share of individual life insurance business in, 48f market share of insurance business in, 62f modern identity, 12, 32–34 mortgage, 33 policies in force in, 234n20 ratio of lung cancer patients in, 243n29 savings of city households in, 24 spending on children, 35 stock market, 6, 33, 47, 72, 154–55, 187 Shanghai Insurance Association, 237n21 showing off, for peers, 145–47 284 Index Siegelman, Peter, 163–64 Simmel, Georg , Simple Life Insurance, 22, 59 sister, naive little, 126–27 social insurance reforms, 156–57 social order, 236n12 socio-economic status, functions of life insurance by, 159t–160t SOEs See state-owned enterprises statements, coding and sample renqing functions of buying life insurance, 223 with money management, 222–23 with rhetoric, 224, 225 with risk management, 223–24 state-owned enterprises (SOEs), 79, 91 bankruptcy for, 25 companies and, 195, 237n23 PICC, 21–22 statistics, inconsistencies with, 231n5 stock fever (gupiao re), 33, 43, 67, 154–55 Stockman, Norman, 236n12 stock market classes, 233n9 fad, 154–56 Hong Kong , 187 Index, 69, 155, 167 losses, 69–70 Shanghai, 6, 33, 47, 72, 154–55, 187 stranger visits (cold calls), 117, 118, 202 strategic interaction(s), 115, 126–27, 130, 142, 200 strategies of insurers, 16, 52, 57–58, 59–60, 61–69, 71 of managers, 87–88, 92–95, 97–99, 101–3 of sales agents, 123–30, 132–40 subjective immunity, 39, 141 success psychological attitude as key to, 79 with sales discourses, 136–40 supernatural powers, 40, 234n17 suzhi (quality), 239n14 Swidler, Ann, 10, 144, 167–68, 173, 174, 176, 177 taboo death as cultural, 3–4, 7, 9, 16, 37, 43, 44, 79, 116, 136, 140, 168, 177, 183, 184, 233n15 impact on selling strategies, 128, 133–41 of death as marketing puzzle, 5–8 on premature death, 7, 37–39 Taiwan, 239n8 AIA management teams from, 85–86 growth of life insurance market in, 182–84 Hong Kong managers compared to managers from, 113–14 Pacific-Aetna’s management from, 96–97 Ping An’s management from, 91–92 Tang, Wenfang , 36 Taoism, 38, 39, 110 TC Marketing Research & Consultancy Lt., 243n28 term life insurance, 22, 137, 231n4, 236n2, 245 AIA’s, 60, 88 as waste of money, 137, 163 China Life’s, 137 in U.S., 53 with endowment, 193, 235n1 theories of action, 231n6 of culture, 10, 167–68, 171–78 Thevenot, Laurent, 141 Tianan Life Insurance Company, Ltd., 228, 240n28 Index tool kit approach, to culture, 10–12, 16–17, 44–45, 50, 174–77, 181 top executives See top managers top managers cultural capital of, 17, 78, 91, 107, 108, 109, 111t, 111, 112, 113, 114, 170, 171, 188, 189 institutional entrepreneurs, 77, 108, 110 labor management, 78, 87–106, 113, 170 transactions, making , 115–42 Travelers Insurance Company, 244n8 trust, 103, 115, 130–31 guanxi, renqing and interpersonal, 35–36 with renqing and gifts, 153 tu (old-fashioned), 33 Tversky, Amos, 74 United States (U.S.) annual premium cost in, 241n15 burial insurance as first widely accepted policy in, 235n1 cultural resistance to life insurance in, 7–8 dying without debt as good death in, 233n16 exchange rate, 237n30 household savings rate in, 41–42 insurance industry in, 7–8 life insurance in, 4, 7–8, 24, 29, 35, 53, 116, 143, 173 market trajectory, 11, 53 penetration in China and Shanghai compared to, 6f sales agents exploiting social networks in, 240n4 societal cultural values, 7–8 term life in, 53 unit linked See also life insurance products 285 crisis and Ping An’s lessons, 69–71 definition, 245 fad, 58, 66–69 urbanization, 6, 7, 27–29, 40, 42, 43, 49 Vaisey, Stephen, 177 Vander Starr, Cornelius, 82 variable life, 66, 70, 245 variable universal life, 68, 185–87, 191 virtue frugality as, 42 law as without, 236n12 von Senger, Herro, 236n12 Walder, Andrew, 232n6 Wank, David, 35 Weber, Max, 10 Weberian concept of culture, 10, 44, 45, 50, 144, 168, 175, 231n6 legacy, 44, 45, 50, 144, 168, 231n6 welfare, 35, 40–43, 99, 166, 168 eroding , 6, 26–27, 29 White, Harrison, 52 whole life policy, 22, 53, 161 AIA’s, 60, 68, 88, 140 definition, 245 growth of, 183, 191–93, 236n2 Manulife-Sinochem’s, 147, 150 Ping An’s, 63, 72 Whyte, Martin, 38 wills, 233n15 Wolf, Arthur, 38 women as sales agents, 63, 79, 83t, 97, 104, 132 career or family as choice for, 240n4 in professional sales, 128–30 work, dirty, 78–80 World Trade Organization (WTO), 23 Wuthnow, Robert, 196 Wu Yuxiao, 199 286 Index xincun (new villages), 28–29 xintai See psychological attitude Yan, Hairong , 239n14 yang (modern), 33, 34, 40 Yang, Der-Ruey, 110 yanglao (support for elderly), 40, 58, 92, 120, 136, 137, 141 See also retirement; retirement insurance insurance, 65–66, 152 investment and, 148–49 saving for managing risks and, 156–57 savings and, 153–54 Zelizer, Viviana, 3, 9, 24, 87, 115, 143, 173, 177, 179 on burial insurance in U.S., 235n1 on child insurance, 162 on imbuing life insurance with benevolent meanings, 135 on sales agents as priests and missionaries, 116 with “cultural values matter” argument, 7–8, 10 Zerubavel, Eviatar, 202 Zhou Huajian, 99, 240n24 .. .Marketing Death This page intentionally left blank MARKETING DEATH Culture and the Making of a Life Insurance Market in China CHERIS SHUN- CHING CHAN Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes... difficulty of disseminating the idea of life insurance, the life insurance business in China has been growing rapidly since the mid-1990s The average annual real growth of life insurance premium income... : culture and the making of a life insurance market in China / Cheris Shun-ching Chan p cm Includes bibliographical references and index Summary: ? ?Marketing Death is the first book to offer a