Competition in these markets, therefore, is unlikely to be on the basis of product innovation. Service innovation is possible to some degree with the Internet, but there are only so many ways to deliver insurance -- it is a product centuries old and not subject to much innovation. In a market like this, service and price are two methods of gaining competitive advantage. Private insurance firms use proprietary actuarial tables to set rates, and this might be the only way that an insurance firm can gain advantage, since it is nearly impossible to derive sustainable competitive advantage from service. Thus, profit margins are slim and a firm can improve the spread between the table and the consumer price only by increasing volume. This leads to a price war as firms fight for market share. Knowing that price wars are devastating to businesses on already thin margins, the companies in the...
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