Reflections on the Customer Decision-Making Process in the Digital Insurance Platforms: An Empirical Study of the Baltic Market

Gedas Baranauskas,Agota Giedrė Raišienė

doi:10.3390/app11188524

Abstract

Multifold effects of the COVID-19 global health crisis and economic lockdowns are reflected in the insurance industry, and are predicted to expand to the post-COVID-19 era. It is expected that, within a short period of time, the current worldwide situation, in regards to the coronavirus pandemic, will be reflected in new trends, regarding customer behavior, organizational management, and culture, as well as reveal improved business management models, legacy infrastructure, and service systems in insurance organizations. Here, a focus on end-user preferences, data, and their behavior modeling in digital platforms are major practical drivers within the modern insurance concept, but there is a paucity of researches within the theoretical synthesis of consumer decision-making (CDM) models, information system theories, and behavioral economics concerning modern insurance-specific value chains and digitalized decision-making processes. Therefore, the following research aims to expand upon the existing scientific knowledge of end-user behavioral patterns and process frameworks in the Baltic insurance market, by including and examining a factor group of technological enablers and a digital environment. Research results in digitalization, personalization, and customization levels within the Baltic non-life insurance market are homogenous with a leading position of Estonia and overall evaluations ranging between Satisfied and Rather Good. There are also three major factor groups and process stages identified, which influence insurance purchase decision-making in digital insurance platforms in the Baltic market.

Highlights

Countries across the world underwent an unprecedented global health crisis and subsequent lockdowns in 2020–2021 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, social and economic outcomes are still hard to predict at a full scope
The Kruskal–Wallis identified that the difference between the mean values of the second-factor group for age groups was statistically significant (p-value = 0.004 is less than the significance level 0.05)
From the perspective of the Baltic insurance market research, the empirical investigation and results of marketing-oriented factors extend the finding by Kiyak and Pranckevičiūtė (2014) [11], where no significant statistical relationship has been identified between the insurance purchase intention and the discount factor

Summary

Introduction

Countries across the world underwent an unprecedented global health crisis and subsequent lockdowns in 2020–2021 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, social and economic outcomes are still hard to predict at a full scope. It is important to note intensive and dynamic changes in the market structure, which are mostly determined by a high competition among traditional peers and new virtual incumbents, non-traditional insurance service providers, such as “Big Tech”, and product manufacturers [5,6]. From a theoretical point of view, the research refers to predecessor studies in the field of non-life insurance consumer decision-making, such as Hsee and Kunreuther (2000) [7], Kunreuther and Pauly (2006; 2015) [8,9], and a cross-border study report by the European. The present research follows key findings and limitations of scientific studies on behavioral patterns in the Baltic insurance market, such as research by Kiyak and Pranckevičiūtė (2014) [11], and longitudinal studies conducted by Ulbinaitė et al (2010, 2011, 2013) [12,13,14,15]. Novel studies of comparison websites [2], multi-sided platforms [1] in the insurance industry and the Service-Dominant

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion