U.S. Auto Insurance and the “New Consumer”
Report Summary
U.S. Auto Insurance and the “New Consumer”
To succeed, auto insurers must adjust to the constantly connected, highly informed, “new consumer.”
Boston, January 11, 2012 – A new report from Aite Group defines the psychographic attributes of today’s U.S. auto insurance consumers. Based on a November 2011 Aite Group survey of 1,024 U.S. consumers, the report provides insight into the ways in which consumer characteristics affect consumer attitudes and behavior related to shopping for, purchasing, and using auto insurance products.
The U.S. consumer marketplace has changed dramatically and relatively quickly. To its credit, the property & casualty (P&C) insurance industry—known historically for its conservative approach to just about everything—has made a concerted and fairly successful effort to recognize these changes and to transform itself in order to understand, recognize, accommodate, and leverage market changes. Central to this change is the “new consumer”—always connected, very well informed, active 24/7, and with high service expectations—and the pursuit of a new, different, customer-centric business organization across all facets of P&C insurance.
“P&C carriers competing in the US$165 billion auto insurance marketplace need to understand and accommodate the service demands and expectations of their consumer base,” says Stephen Applebaum, senior analyst with Aite Group and co-author of this report. “Among the characteristics that successful carriers and agents will be able to demonstrate is the ability to satisfy the growing consumer preference for using the online channel to conduct auto insurance transactions.”
This 17-page Impact Note contains 12 figures. Clients of Aite Group’s P&C Insurance service can download the report.