In a recent EY Global Insurance Consumer Survey, financial vulnerability and health-related concerns appear to have become more prevalent among young consumers in emerging market countries, which has driven an increase in purchasing insurance.
The survey, which was taken by 4,200 consumers in seven countries across Africa, Asia, North America and South America explored the growing protection gap between consumers in emerging markets and those in developed markets.
Overall, consumers in emerging and developed markets expressed interest in short-term protection products, like insurance that funds college education plans or pays for credit card bills in the event of a job loss.
However, among all eight product offerings proposed in the latest survey, the appetite for purchasing a product is nearly twice as high among emerging markets consumers compared to those in developed markets.
As an alternative to purchasing insurance from traditional carriers, emerging markets consumers expressed interest in purchasing embedded insurance policies.
Forty-seven percent of consumers were most interested in purchasing insurance from a health care organisation/hospital chain, followed by a hospitality company (25%), large tech company (23%) and the federal government (21%).
Additionally, over half (53%) of emerging markets consumers were willing to share personalised communication data with an insurance or financial company in exchange for help meeting their individual savings goals, compared to 25% in developed markets.
The survey also highlights the COVID-19 pandemic, along with other events of the last year, has advanced consumer interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and raised expectations about how companies contribute to society.
Fifty-nine percent of consumers worldwide know their insurers’ CSR stance at least somewhat well, with consumers in emerging markets more aware of social commitments.
An average of 56% worldwide took at least some CSR-related action involving insurance or other financial products. Reputation is the most critical factor, with a quarter of respondents saying that they have chosen one insurance brand over another due to its CSR reputation.
