Impact of Consumer Awareness, Attitude and perception on Consumer Purchase of Health insurance plans in Hyderabad

Abstract

The health insurance industry has been growing over the years and this growth is as a result of rising healthcare costs and rising consciousness of own risk to health related costs. It is the research that seeks to analyze the relationship between awareness, attitude, and perception level of the consumers to the health insurance plans’ purchase in Hyderabad. An open ended questionnaire designed for the study was filled by 300 consumers in the city, questions dealing with awareness about health insurance companies and policies, attitude towards the purchase of health insurance policies, and perceived advantages and constraints of having a health insurance policy. Data were analyzed for descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients and multiple regression analysis tests. The study findings showed that knowledge of the consumer has a positive correlation with setting of positive attitudes and perceptions towards health insurance. Moreover, perceived trust, price, and choice of coverage were found as the important decision criteria. This paper finds that there is the enhancement of customer interest in health insurance products due to a rising awareness of health insurance products in the market However, it is noted that there is a requirement of further efforts to carry out health insurance to clear misconceptions and barriers that remain influential in stopping individuals from going for a certain health insurance plan. Based on the findings of the research, some of the recommendation for policyholders, insurers and policymakers are; greater communication efforts, better education of consumers of health insurance and the development of better plans to better suit the consumer in Hyderabad.