USE OF WEBSITES FOR MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTIVE PURPOSES BY INSURANCE COMPANIES IN OUR COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD

The development andcommercialization of the Internet was followed bythe birth of numerous web presentations oforganizations involved in various businessactivities. After 1996, the use of Internet-connectedapplications has intensified in the field ofinsurance. Since then, an increasing number ofinsurance companies have used web sites, primarilyfor marketing purposes. This paper attempts toclassify the basic types of web sites for insurancecompanies and give the specific examples. Itprovides a detailed analysis of the degree of use ofelectronic forms for marketing and distributivepurposes, with special reference to practice inBosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia. Theresearch shows that many countries exhibit aprogressive tendency toward the increased use ofweb presentations of insurance companies for theaforementioned purposes. The final part of thepaper highlights the factors that have contributedto the introduction of web business model intoinsurance companies’ strategies in many countriesthroughout the world, including the growingnumber of domestic insurers as well.