Word of Mouth Matters When Customers Buy Their Insurance: Facebook

For young and old property and auto insurance customers alike, word of mouth shapes their coverage purchases, according to a new Facebook survey.

Where that word of mouth comes from can differ, however. The survey found that 80 percent of customers are influenced by recommendations from friends and family when deciding on their insurance.

But younger customers said they worried that an insurance broker or agent would try to influence their purchase if they weren’t sure of their choice, the survey found. As a result, the global social networking giant said, many younger customers saw non-family word of mouth — consumer reviews — as the most trustworthy information source.

The global social networking giant pursued its survey through Facebook IQ, its “insights unit” designed to help marketers better understand how people communicate both on and offline. Accenture gathered the data, surveying 1,007 U.S. insurance consumers who bought automobile or property insurance products in the three months before July 2018.

Here are some additional survey highlights:

• Millennials primarily buy their auto insurance online. But online comes in second when the age group seeks property insurance. About 37 percent rely on insurance agents for property coverage, and 32 percent sign up online.
• Approximately 56 percent of auto insurance shoppers said they are loyal to a specific insurance brand, and 83 percent said they initially only look at 1-3 brands before they make a purchase.
• 70 percent of shoppers spent less than four hours looking for their insurance.
• 34 percent surveyed said they hear about new auto insurance brands through friends and family. For millennials, that number reaches 38 percent, with 36 percent evaluating a brand through friends and family.
• Younger auto insurance purchasers often talk to friends and family about their options online, through social platforms.
• Millennials are 2.7 times more likely than Generation X and Baby Boomers to be interested in auto insurance they see advertised on social platforms such as Facebook.