Consumer education is key for cultivating Canadian insurance customers

Chicago (September 14, 2010) – According to Mintel Comperemedia, a service that provides direct marketing competitive intelligence, Canadian insurance providers could benefit from educating the public more about the products they offer, in order to attract more customers. As it stands, a third or more of survey respondents are not familiar with term (34%), whole (31%) or universal (60%) life insurance products.

“This unfamiliarity could be due in part to consumers passively receiving life insurance through their employer,”says Daniel Hayes, VP of insurance services at Mintel Comperemedia. “But, the percentages are large, so this represents a considerable number of people that just don’t know the advantages of different life insurance products. “

The survey also found that 38% of respondents would go to an insurance broker or agent first for life insurance information. Meanwhile, 34% would seek out advice from friends and family first and 24% would first turn to the Internet to research life insurance information.

“While much attention is focused on selling through the Internet, insurance is still largely a product researched through word of mouth,” adds Daniel Hayes. ” insurance brokers and agents are the most preferred source for consumers to learn about insurance products, so they have a clear opportunity to reach out to the public and build a long-lasting personal relationship that could expand to family and friends. “

According to Mintel Comperemedia, 60% of those surveyed who own life insurance say they strongly agree or agree that they would recommend their company to family and friends. Fifty-one percent rate their overall experience with their insurance company as excellent or very good.

While a broker or agent is the preferred source of information on life insurance products, it’s not how most consumers hear about a company. Thirty-one percent of respondents recall frequently seeing television advertisements for life insurance products. Thirteen percent report they’ve frequently seen an online advertisement and only 11% have received one in the mail.