Most use internet to research before buying financial products

Internet is emerging as one of the top destinations to find out more about financial products like insurance, banking services and loans before making purchases, reveals a study.

A study by Netpop Research on behalf of Google India found out that almost 84 of those surveyed use search engines to research financial products compared to any other medium or type of internet sites.

"The research was undertaken to understand the role of internet in purchase of financial products. And as expected it shows that search engines have become an indispensible tool in the purchase-decision process," Google India Business Head Parminder Singh told PTI.

User-generated content like blogs, reviews and social networking sites as well as online videos have found favour with purchasers. As many as 7 in 10 financial purchasers use at least one of these types of sources in their research, the study reveals.

And about 40 per cent users said they opted to watch finance-related videos sites or financial news or company sites.

"Increase in usage of UGC and online videos also highlight the need to effectively manage brand perceptions which is critical for the finance category as trust is a major component of the final purchase decision," Singh said.

Consumers were more concerned about finance-related information during the economic slowdown triggering more comparison and research for information, the study noted.

This has led to an increase in use of search engines by 17 per cent in last one year, Singh said.

The study was conducted amongst users who had purchased a product from banking services, home loans, personal loans, credit cards, investments, insurance policies and remittances in the last six months.

The respondents said the traditional media ads and news had also prompted purchasers to go to a search engine to look for more information.

"Any kind of above-the-line campaigns are only driving more users to the internet making a case for businesses to ensure high visibility on the internet with relevant information," Singh said.