Perceived brand reliability of insurance companies as customer loyalty factor

A regular obstacle in insurance business is the problem of attracting new users of insurance products/services while it is getting more difficult to keep the existing clients. Beside financial risk and barriers to exit which restrain clients contractually and legally from leaving an insurance provider and switching to another, there aren't many reasons why they should not do it, and the possibilities are vast. That is why it is important to continually strengthen the emotional bond with the clients and to affect their perception of insurance provider’s brand strength, brand reliability and quality. Another limitation in attracting new clients is a significant similarity in the offer of all insurance providers, which is why they have to make effort to create a recognizable differential advantage which will be noticed by the clients and not easily imitated by the competitors. Not enough attention is given to strengthening the brand of insurance providers and brand equity is exactly what can affect the opinion of clients when choosing or changing an insurance provider. The feeling of belonging to a particular insurance provider is the most important factor because it is a generator strong bond with the brand. In order for insurance users to gain trust in the insurance provider, it has to make sure that users have solid understanding of types of insurance coverage and exclusions in their insurance policies. In practice it is often the opposite, which creates lower level of satisfaction on clients' side due to high expectations. By analysing market research results, the author examines aspects of perceived stability, trust and reliability of insurance providers’ brands on Croatian market. After collecting insurance users' attitudes and opinions based on their previous experiences and perception, the author makes conclusions regarding their current and future loyalty by methods of synthesis and induction.