Kantar study shows top insurance brands continue to lead, but are less differentiated on customer loyalty

Kantar, the world's leading marketing data, insights and consulting company, today launched its Annual Life Insurance Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Report 2019.

The study shows that customer loyalty has seen an increase over the last year (69 per cent in 2018 to 71 per cent in 2019) led by an improvement in the customer experience though there is limited differentiation between brands on products and service experiences offered by them.

Key Findings

*Trustworthiness and accessibility emerge as key drivers to gain customer loyalty

*While life insurance is bought primarily as a savings instrument and to provide financial support to the family in case of death, there is a rise in the proportion of people buying life insurance as a tax saving instrument: 2.3X increase compared to 2012 (similar proportion across age groups)

*One in five life insurance customers are unsure about how much life insurance cover is needed. This is an opportunity for insurance brands to create touch points for educating their customers.

*Younger customers are more loyal than older customers and are 1.2X times more financially aware.

*Digital/ electronic premium payment has risen 1.3X over 2018 and insurance brand owned websites record a 1.9X rise over 2018. Even though consumer behaviour in digital adoption has shown a marked development, it is still not a replacement for physical interactions - while purchasing a policy or while seeking service/ issue resolutions.

*This year's report also delves into women as a segment

oWomen attach greater importance to 'Brand Perceptions' while buying a life insurance policy and hence considers fewer brands during the purchase process, which opens a plethora of opportunities for businesses who cater to female consumers.

oWomen are more likely to have bought their life insurance from agent/ bank representative whom they have known beforehand, compared to men.

"With the changing macroeconomic landscape, life insurance companies are struggling to remain differentiated in the minds of customers. If we compare the findings of our syndicated life insurance study from a few years back, the loyalty among the LIC customers was around 35-40 percentage points higher than the other private insurance players. Today, we see the gap vanishing and brands are no longer differentiated from each other. Customers are loyal to multiple companies at the same time and may shift to an alternate brand when they plan to buy a new policy. Thus, developing targeted products, attracting the right customers for those products, and keeping them satisfied are keys to survival," said Piyali Konar, Executive Vice President, Insights Division, Kantar.

The ninth round of the Insurance India syndicated report offers significant insights into the relationship between customers and insurers in the life insurance space. It helps organizations understand customer's expectations from an insurance service provider vis-a-vis current level of experience; to what extent the customer expectations have been met, and assess the customer loyalty to their brand. The study is based on 6500 plus responses across 13 brands and more than 15 cities across India.

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