The More You Smoke, the Less Likely You Are to Get Insurance... Why Is That?

Research on Lifestyle and Insurance Purchase Intentions
"Results Showing Smokers' Confidence in Their Health"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] A study has found that smokers who smoke more than one pack a day are relatively less likely to have insurance compared to those who smoke less.

Since lifestyle patterns and past insurance history significantly affect disease insurance enrollment, it is pointed out that insurance companies need to provide customized services and closely manage their customers.

According to the research report "Changes in Lifestyle and the Relationship with Disease Insurance Purchase" published on the 14th by Professor Park Bok-hee of Jeonju University and Professor Jeon Hee-joo of Dongduk Women’s University, smoking status was identified as the most influential factor in disease insurance enrollment, followed by the number of currently subscribed disease insurance products and age.

The report stated, "Smokers who smoke 20 cigarettes or fewer per day showed the highest willingness to subscribe to disease insurance products, while those who smoke more than 20 cigarettes showed the lowest willingness," diagnosing this as "(smokers) being confident in their own health."

Additionally, the more disease insurance policies a person had, the higher their willingness to subscribe was. The report explained that this is consistent with previous studies showing that people with prior insurance experience are more likely to subscribe than those who have never had insurance.

By age group, those under 30 showed the highest willingness to subscribe to disease insurance, with a tendency to decrease as age increased. The report advised, "It is necessary to develop and supply products for younger generations, moving away from products mainly targeting middle-aged and elderly groups." Heads of households and married individuals also showed a higher willingness to subscribe to disease insurance.

Furthermore, it was found that the more regularly a person exercises daily, the healthier their subjective health status, and the higher their stress levels, the greater their willingness to subscribe to disease insurance.

Professor Park said, "If insurance companies provide tailored services such as guidance on new products related to insured persons to customers who have experience claiming insurance benefits, or information on specialized medical staff, medical facilities, and health management, customer satisfaction can be increased, leading to higher sales."

Meanwhile, this report analyzed the willingness to subscribe to disease insurance based on lifestyle patterns, medical expenses, and types of disease insurance benefit receipt, using the 2018 Insurance Consumer Survey by the Korea Insurance Research Institute. It derived willingness to subscribe to disease insurance based on factors such as regular exercise, current subjective health status, health checkups, drinking, smoking, and stress presence.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.