Like social media, gamification is one of those exciting new technologies where insurers may find it difficult to determine a concrete return on investment. The ability to encourage client interaction, which insurers struggle with more than other businesses, has nevertheless become a part of consumer culture. Gamification is an expanding area of activity in the insurance industry and is employed by various companies for several purposes. However, insurers may apply more general lessons from gamification to how they see user interfaces in general.

For far too long, the insurance sector has been considered uninteresting. The insurance business has been pleading for a redesign, given the level of churn it is experiencing and the profound lack of interest among millennials in working in the insurance sector. The truth is that the times are a-changing, and as some early adopters have discovered, some organizational adjustments genuinely alter the course of the game.

Gamification: What is it?

Designers can increase customer engagement with a product or service by incorporating gameplay features into non-gaming contexts, a process known as gamification. For example, designers can increase user engagement with an existing system by incorporating entertaining elements like leaderboards and badges.

Why does gamification matter to insurance companies?

Several successful use cases for gamification exist in the insurance industry:

Engage users: Gamification may turn routine apps into enjoyable and engaging experiences that encourage repeat usage.

Brand establishment or brand reinforcement: Gamification can increase brand penetration, affection, awareness, and buy intent.

Motivate people to take action: Gamification has shown to impact and even transform behaviors in fields including sustainability, money management, safe driving, and health and wellness – all areas where individuals express a strong desire to take action but don’t do it.

Simplify complex insurance products: Some types of insurance plans will be challenging for many buyers to comprehend. Games make it simple to dissect this.

The role of gamification in life insurance

Gamification provides a platform for creative expression, making them popular in contrast to ‘boring’ tasks like producing reports for the office or paying taxes. Unfortunately, life insurance falls within the services or things consumers typically find uninteresting. According to a Deloitte study, 31% of life insurance policyholders allow their policies to lapse, which exposes how many insurers fail to engage clients regularly.

A desirable and enjoyable experience could be produced by using game mechanics to buck this trend. When gamification is used in conjunction with a specific objective and when individuals can see real progress every time they “level up,” it has a more significant impact. The benefits of purchasing life insurance seem distant and intangible, which means that the desired behavioral change portrayed in Fogg’s model is out of reach. As a result, people aren’t encouraged to do so. However, suppose gamified life insurance products could provide advantages for forming healthy behaviors. In that case, life insurance might result in long-lasting transformation while becoming far more exciting and appealing to customers. 

Easy tips for implementing a gamified life insurance program

Implement gamification with a goal in mind: Offering a gamified product or increasing usage time are not ends in and of themselves, and gamification is of little use when there is no hidden agenda. Life insurance cannot and should not substitute for World of Warcraft or Candy Crush. Gamification is useful to modify behavior, such as by giving prizes or discounts in exchange for quantifiable healthy living decisions.

Put policyholders’ needs first: Are we aiming to motivate policyholders to live healthier lives, or are we just looking to launch a fancy gamified product for fun? Some significant insights on this topic can be found in the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, which examined some social media usage issues. While social media users think that tech products are created with them in mind, many major tech companies see consumers as the product—along with their data. To generate revenue from targeted advertising, companies collect user data and turn consumers into an algorithm. Because members are not a product but rather the entire reason we exist, that model cannot be used by life insurers trying to increase their dismal retention rates.

Conclusion 

Gamification produces measurable, verified effects. Businesses can see a rise in social media engagement and website traffic by incorporating it into the product. Additionally, it will assist clients in realizing the necessity of the appropriate policies. Overall, it can aid in boosting customer awareness, loyalty, and ultimately, the likelihood that they will purchase insurance.