What drives trust in digital insurance?

No doubt – digital trust has become an essential good for any business, especially in the insurance industry where customer relationships are built on the most precious of all character traits – trust. Digital trust is very personal and highly emotional, not always responding to logical reasoning. Therefore, it can be hard to explain rationally why a digital insurance solution is trusted or not by customers, but there are methods to address this challenge systematically.

To build digital trust in insurance, much can be done in establishing transparency in online interactions; describing levels of cyber security; presenting data use and ethics policies. We can even offer incentives for those willing to share data. For many of our customers, this will help foster trust.

But not for all. Surveys point to there being many individuals not wanting to establish digital trust with insurers despite explanations and incentives.

This is the question tackled by Swiss Re Institute's expertise publication Decoding Digital Trust 2. It attempts to break down decision making and asks why, in some circumstances, certain customers may be unwilling to share data with their insurer.

Part of this answer, according to the report, lies in the speed of thought used by individuals in engaging with digital technology. The notion of being in control has considerable influence in judging the risk of sharing data. Individual psychological profiles are a further filter through which trust will be moulded; as will the cultural and environmental background of the customer.

To quote the report: "Gut feelings are as valid decision-making mechanisms as clear-headed reason. They are part of our journey to digital trust."

It's a call for insurers to think about some of the gut feelings of their customers and how they can work around them to build digital trust. How do we make our customers feel in control? How do we interact with those who don't want to share their data? Why do some trust a gamification of data; while others are repulsed? Should we approach different ages or nationalities in different ways?

The need for better understanding of the relationships we engender through digital platforms, the factors that influence them, and the nature of trust in this space, is constantly evolving. The safety, security and efficiency of online engagements is paramount.

Beyond the inherent and competitive nature of digital environments, there is the sheer volume of data generated, received and to be managed. These demands have given rise to increasing feelings of technology overload, together with cognitive and physical duress.

Within Swiss Re and iptiQ, we firmly believe that to truly harness the potential of new data-driven technology, we must understand what our customers really want from their insurance and address their needs accordingly.

As a fully digital B2B2C insurer, iptiQ is committed to better understand and effectively engage customers at every relevant touch point. To efficiently drive results, a true understanding of expectations, behaviours and actions is vital. And that´s why behavioural science and customer experience is so important for us. 

Of course, garnering the insights is one thing. Translating and employing them to create meaningful experiences that lead to improvements in customer outcomes across sales, satisfaction and retention is another. Our aim is to leverage technology to build relationships based on trust and make every aspect of insurance as good as humanly possible.

However, we cannot embark on this journey alone. We need digital trust to take our partners and customers with us. Many will come on our terms; we also need to reach to those who think differently.

True – the human decision-making process can probably never be fully captured. Still, I firmly believe the insurance industry can benefit from better understanding gut feelings and systematically responding to customer needs based on these findings.