Enhancing Digital Trust in Banking and Insurance

Article Synopsis :

We all know how important trust is in business, especially insurance. How best to build trust with digital customers? “Enhancing Digital Trust in Banking and Insurance,” from the Asian Institute of Finance, takes an empirical look at how visual and auditory factors influence online trust, from a regional perspective.

In building trust, especially across different geographies, one interface does not fit all 

The research scope is in two stages:

Stage 1: Unisensory: With respect to trust, what is the individual impact of Colour? Shapes? Sounds?

Stage 2: Multisensory: How do the three—colours, shapes, and sounds—work together to effect trust, in an International sample and a South East Asia sample?

Key findings:

• Colours and shapes influence trust in both online banking and insurance services, in particular colour hues and shape symmetry. At both the unisensory and multisensory stage dull colours are trusted more than bright colours. Blue and white seem to be trusted more than other colours, and in particular, red appears to be trusted least. Yellow hues are trusted more for insurance websites.
• Symmetry enhances consumer digital trust. At the multisensory stage it was discovered that, for both banking and insurance services, symmetrical designs are trusted more than asymmetrical designs. The effect of symmetry varies from country to country.
• In terms of soundscapes, customers seem to trust ascending tones more than descending, particularly for the insurance industry. Low pitch and low volume tones are also trusted more. However, at the multisensory stage, it was also found that customers trusted websites when no sound was present rather than with either an ascending or descending tone.

Recommendations include:

1. Building resilience into digital systems is not enough – trust needs to be felt and perceived by customers. A positive and trusting online ambiance is essential, and colours (hue and symmetry), shapes and sounds play a key role.
2. Digital customer interaction strategies must appeal to local and regional tastes and expectations. The differences between countries should not be ignored as customer trust varies between countries in response to certain stimuli. One interface does not fit all.
3. In the near future, digital trust could be a key competitive differentiator. Companies must be digitally trusted – by customers, suppliers, all stakeholders of the business. Trust is essential for consumers not only to feel safe using online products and services, but more importantly, for companies to grow their customer base.

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