In an era in which everything from Christmas shopping to finding a date has been transformed by the Internet, it's easy to conclude that insurance selling by agents is on the way out, replaced by consumers' round-the-clock access to ''free'' Internet advice and transactional capabilities. But comprehensive consumer research demonstrates that much of the public values agent relationships and that agents have connected with a mere sliver of their potential markets.
This report provides a concise overview of industry trends shaping agent recruitment and retention, followed by survey findings on such issues as:
- Percentages of consumer markets-segmented by demographic niche and insurance product-that have been contacted by an agent during the past five years
- How consumers prefer to communicate with their insurance agent
- Preferred insurance marketing channels
- Perceived advantages of buying insurance from agents/brokers
- Consumer attitudes towards agents and the insurance purchasing experience'
