{"id":56192,"date":"2021-06-15T09:27:35","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T23:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/?p=56192"},"modified":"2021-06-15T14:04:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T04:04:52","slug":"survey-highlights-changing-consumer-attitudes-as-a-result-of-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/2021\/06\/15\/survey-highlights-changing-consumer-attitudes-as-a-result-of-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Survey Highlights Changing Consumer Attitudes as a Result of Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mental health is the top of consumers\u2019 concerns as a result of Covid-19 along with increased demand for digital gateways to select and buy insurance, according to Swiss Re\u2019s<\/a> 2021 APAC consumer survey.<\/p>\n

The re-insurance firm commissioned two annual consumer surveys across Asia-Pacific, the first in April 2020 and a second in January to February this year, to help insurers better understand consumer sentiment. Click here<\/a> to see the full report.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s survey included 7,000 respondents across 12 markets, including Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The results provide insights into how the virus has affected consumer behaviour, implications for the insurance industry, and how insurers can better respond to evolving needs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Download the Swiss Re report on the impact of Covid-19.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt is evident that despite vaccine rollouts across the region, the level of financial anxiety remains high, consistent with what we heard when we first conducted this survey,\u201d says Russell Higginbotham<\/strong>, CEO Reinsurance, Swiss Re Asia.<\/p>\n

\u201cCovid-19 has exposed shortfalls in consumers\u2019 insurance protection, where increasing health concerns have translated into strong health insurance premium growth in several markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rising awareness of health and mortality risks are key factors that drive strong growth in risk and health insurance premiums,\u201d says Irina Fan<\/strong>, Head Insurance Market Analysis at the Swiss Re Institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor instance, in 2020, health insurance premium maintained double-digit growth of 10.5 percent in APAC, which is in contrast to the [2008] Global Financial Crisis, when health-related premium growth slowed down sharply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Health insurance remains top of mind for consumers, with medical reimbursement and critical illness ranking as areas consumers are keen to seek more protection in the future, says the firm.<\/p>\n

…We are seeing clear evidence that lifestyle factors affect our health, and insurance companies play an important role in promoting wellbeing\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The stress of the virus has also made insurance customers more price sensitive. Across all the markets, 80 percent of respondents said price is the most important factor in insurance purchase decisions (up 5 percent from 2020).<\/p>\n

The survey also highlights how the virus has promoted more proactive management of personal health and increased emphasis on mental wellness.<\/p>\n

Across the region, 71 percent of respondents indicated they are practicing stricter personal hygiene habits, 50 percent implementing healthier diets, 48 percent getting more exercise and 40 percent practicing better sleeping habits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing clear evidence that lifestyle factors affect our health, and insurance companies play an important role in promoting wellbeing,\u201d says Michael Rolf,<\/strong> the firm\u2019s Head Solutions Groups Life & Health Asia.<\/p>\n

\u201cMental wellbeing, sleep, exercise and nutrition were all highlighted in the survey. These are a few of the lifestyle factors we refer to as \u2018The Big Six\u2019 because they present many opportunities for our industry \u2013 alternative data use, better customer journey and engagement, an ability to improve customer health, and the possibility of underwriting in an entirely new way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Digital<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition, the report notes that consumers see digital access to process transactions and speed of claim processing\/payment as standard when looking for policies.<\/p>\n

The increased use of health apps is an area where insurers can play a more important role in engaging consumers, says Swiss Re.<\/p>\n

The survey shows in the past six months, 39 percent of the total insurance policy purchases were completed using insurers\u2019 online platforms or via an app.<\/p>\n

The firm expects digital insurance purchases to continue to see an uptick in APAC, with half of respondents interested in purchasing through an insurer\u2019s website or app.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mental health is the top of consumers\u2019 concerns as a result of Covid-19 along with increased demand for digital gateways to select and buy insurance, according to Swiss Re\u2019s 2021 APAC consumer survey. The re-insurance firm commissioned two annual consumer surveys across Asia-Pacific, the first in April 2020 and a second in January to February […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":56197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,3,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-company-news","category-general","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}