Are Australian Health Insurance Providers Engulfed in an Epidemic of Commoditisation?
Announcement posted by Engaged Strategy 06 Jun 2018
Brisbane, 6 June 2018 - New research has revealed that Australia’s most recommended health insurance brand is AHM. The study also discovered that health insurance providers may be unknowingly offering products and experiences that provide limited differentiation from other brands in the industry.
The 2018 Health Insurance Consumer Recommendation & Loyalty Study, conducted by Engaged Strategy, surveyed over 1,000 Australian health insurance customers under the Net Promoter Score framework. Seven of Australia’s largest health insurers were assessed in the study, with AHM ahead of Australian Unity, Bupa, HBF, HCF, Medibank and NIB.
The study found the industry leader AHM achieved a Net Promoter Score of positive 3 per cent. This was a moderately higher score than the industry average of negative 2 per cent, with the lowest performing brand achieving a distinctly low Net Promoter Score of negative 26 per cent.
Engaged Strategy Managing Director Christopher Roberts expands on this further, explaining that these results indicate that companies need to deliver a distinct value proposition and experience worthy of recommendation to break free from competitors and such negative scores.
“In an industry with little differentiation, and with the readiness and availability of a myriad of online comparison tools for consumers, it has become increasingly difficult for customers to choose a brand on a feature other than price,” he says.
AHM has positioned itself through its customer value proposition as a value for money brand, which is consistent with price being one of the key differentiators within the health insurance industry. According to Australia's leading consumer advocacy group, Choice, AHM’s premium increase is less than the industry weighted average for 2018. This further illustrates the company's commitment to producing the promised value to their customers. By successfully delivering on its outlined value proposition, AHM has put itself a small step in front of its competition.
The full version of The 2018 Health Insurance Consumer Recommendation & Loyalty Study is available within Engaged Strategy’s Health Insurance Intelligent Industry Analytics package.
Engaged Strategy is a strategic consultancy that focusses on helping businesses grow by developing fresh customer, marketing, digital and organisational strategies. Christopher Roberts is an Industry Fellow at the University of Queensland, Australia.
Net Promoter, NPS and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of NICE Satmetrix Systems Inc., Bain & Company and Fred Reichheld.
ENDS
Media Contact:
Carissa Roberts
07 3245 7372