Consumers will accept fitness trackers if they get a good discount: Study

A Massey University study has found that 83% of health insurance customers are willing to share personal health data with their insurers via wearable devices - but they want to be rewarded for doing so.

Monday, August 13th 2018, 6:00AM

The research, by RFA Upmeet Sodhi, conducted under the guidance of Mike Naylor, examined consumers' sentiment, based on the premise that wearable devices, such as Fitbits, will be an increasing part of setting client premiums in future.

The researchers said it was unclear whether customers would accept the devices, because of the extra personal information-sharing involved.

But they found 83% were willing and, on average, those consumers thought a 20% discount on premiums made it worth sharing the information.

Most respondents were willing to share daily activity data, with a lower willingness to share blood pressure data, cardiac data, blood oxygenation, or blood insulin data. More than half of all respondents would share all kinds of data if offered the right deal.

In general males were more willing to share data than females, and those with a higher level of perceived health were more willing. Income level and ethnicity had little impact on willingness.

There was a strong relationship between respondents’ level of trust in their insurer and their willingness to share data.

"This result highlights that a major element of insurer competitive advantage in the future will be their perceived trustability," Naylor said.

"This is an issue as life and health insurance companies are finding it increasingly difficult to actively engage in positive ways with clients, whose expectations of engagement have been raised by the customized approach used in the tech sector."

Tags: health insurance Michael Naylor