Empirical survey of 270 Kerala health-insurance consumers links satisfaction with provider type and trust

An empirical survey of 270 health-insurance consumers in Kerala found higher reported satisfaction among customers of public-sector providers than among customers of private-sector providers. The study, summarized in the publisher’s abstract, reported an overall difference in satisfaction scores between the provider types (F = 13.27, p = 0.001). Public-sector insurance customers reported greater satisfaction with coverage, trustworthiness and additional perks, while customers of private-sector insurers placed greater importance on competitiveness and customer assistance.

Respondents were selected through multi-phase random sampling from North, Central and South Kerala. Investigators used descriptive analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, one-way analysis of variance, structural equation modelling and multinomial logit models. The models associated total customer satisfaction with trustworthiness, customer support and competitiveness, with trustworthiness showing the largest reported structural equation coefficient (β = 0.59). Age, education and gender were not significantly associated with total satisfaction, with reported p-values greater than 0.05.

The multinomial logit analysis associated gender, education and income with the choice between public- and private-sector insurers. Within that model, gender and income had negative associations with selecting private-sector insurance. The abstract did not report coefficient magnitudes, confidence intervals or individual significance levels for these logit estimates, so the strength of the reported associations cannot be assessed from the available summary.

Because the available evidence consists of the publisher’s abstract and accompanying article information rather than the full study, the sampling frame, response rate, measurement instruments and uncertainty estimates for individual satisfaction measures could not be examined. The observational model estimates identify reported associations and do not establish that changing a characteristic would cause satisfaction to change. The abstract also describes no intervention evaluation, so the analysis cannot establish the effect of a program intended to improve insurance service quality. The findings apply to the 270 surveyed respondents and may not generalize to health-insurance consumers elsewhere.

Subject of Research: Factors associated with consumer satisfaction and provider choice in Kerala health insurance

Article Title: Consumer satisfaction towards health insurance in Kerala: a multidimensional empirical analysis of influencing factors

Article References: Prasad, C. V., & Sathik, S. J. (2026). Consumer satisfaction towards health insurance in Kerala: a multidimensional empirical analysis of influencing factors. SN Social Sciences, 6(9), Article 382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-026-01658-4

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DOI: 10.1007/s43545-026-01658-4

Keywords: health insurance, consumer satisfaction, Kerala, public-sector insurance, private-sector insurance, trustworthiness, customer support, structural equation modelling, multinomial logit, provider choice, Consumer, satisfaction