Factors Affecting Chinese Purchase Intention of Commercial Long-Term Care Insurance: A Consumer Cognition Perspective
Main Article Content
Abstract
Purpose: China has become the country with the largest elderly population and the fastest growth rate in the world; therefore, market demand for long-term care among Chinese consumers is growing increasingly large and urgent. To provide long-term care for consumers, commercial long-term care insurance is expected to become a new growth point for insurance companies as the state copes with an aging population. However, mechanisms that drive consumer cognition on purchase intentions of commercial long-term care insurance are still unclear. So taking the impact of consumer cognition on purchase intentions of commercial long-term care insurance as the core issue, this study explored how consumer cognition affected purchase intentions of commercial long-term care insurance.
Introduction: Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), along with content from a literature review and expert consultation, seven dimensions of consumer cognition variables were incorporated into a research model, including performance expectancy, social influence, culture concept, insurance knowledge, risk perception, trust, and personal norms. Attitude, which was theorized to have the strongest predictive ability for behavioral intention, was selected as the mediating variable, and its role in the path relationship between consumer cognition and purchase intention was investigated. Finally, a consumer purchase intention model was constructed from the perspective of consumer cognition that verified the influence of consumer cognition on purchase intention of commercial long-term care insurance.
Methodology: In this study, an empirical analysis approach was employed. Permanent residents aged 45-59 in Henan Province were selected as the research subjects. For data collection, a survey method was adopted. Convenience sampling was used to distribute online questionnaires, and 400 valid questionnaires were recovered. For data analysis, a well-known statistical software package was used for descriptive statistical analysis, along with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling.
Findings: The results showed that consumer cognition had significant positive effects on purchase attitude (β= .80, p < .001) and purchase intention (β= .23, p < .001). Purchase attitude also exerted a significant positive influence on purchase intention (β= .67, p < .001). Meanwhile, purchase attitude (β= .53, p < .001) served as an important mediating variable in the impact of consumer cognition on purchase intention. The study’s findings highlighted that enhancing consumer cognition of commercial long-term care insurance can significantly improve purchase attitude and intention.
Contribution: From the perspective of consumer cognition, the psychological mechanisms underlying consumers' purchase decisions for commercial long-term care insurance were explored. This study differed significantly from previous research on the purchase intention of commercial long-term care insurance by examining aspects such as consumers' health conditions, income, and the situation of their children, providing a new theoretical perspective for studying consumers' purchase intention of insurance products. Furthermore, "consumer cognition" was introduced as a leading factor influencing attitude. While following the core framework of TPB, these findings expand the understanding of the cognitively driven mechanisms that form attitudes and enrich the application value of TPB theory in the field of complex insurance products.
Furthermore, the research results provide a clear direction for insurance enterprises to optimize their marketing strategies from the perspective of enhancing consumer awareness. At the same time, they also offer a feasible solution for the country to encourage consumers to purchase commercial long-term care insurance to alleviate the social pressure of elderly care. The findings also have positive policy reference value for promoting the sustainable development of an aging society.
Recommendations: Insurance companies can enhance consumers' intention to purchase commercial long-term care insurance by raising their levels of cognition. To enhance consumer cognition, efforts can be made based upon the seven dimensions for measuring consumer cognition, namely performance expectancy, social influence, culture concept, insurance knowledge, risk perception, trust, and personal norms. Similarly, to alleviate the pressure of an aging society, the state can also formulate policies and guidelines from the perspective of consumer cognition to promote consumer purchases of commercial long-term care insurance.
Research Limitations and Future Research: In this study, Henan Province in China was selected as the target area, a convenience sampling method was used to collect data, and the influence of consumer cognition on purchase intention of commercial long-term care insurance was empirically analyzed. Future researchers could optimize three aspects of the research design, expanding it across other regions and cultures, along with increasing the sample size and number of influencing factors. This would enable a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of the driving mechanisms of consumers' purchase intentions.
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