12/15: Shrewd Marketing: It's All In What You Call It
Category: Shrewd Marketing
Posted by: ZodQueen
Insurance companies found out awhile ago that while low-income people think they can't afford "life insurance," they'll gladly buy "burial insurance" to ensure a dignified funeral service without burdening their loved ones with expenses. The difference? Semantics.
A recent New York Times article describes the idea of "burial insurance," purely a marketing creation, which sound cheap at a couple of bucks a month. They're apparently an easy sell to people making $10 to $15 an hour, or even less. They buy them for spouses and even children. The article's author talked to a woman who bought a policy for her baby granddaughter and had to cash it in when the little girl died just shy of her second birthday in an auto accident which severely injured the toddler's mother.
Life insurance for children must be very profitable for the insurance companies, since children in the U.S. usually live to see adulthood these days. But for many, that $8 or $10 a month is money well spent for the peace of mind in knowing that if the worst should happen, they'd be able to give their family member a nice burial. Plus, marketed in small increments of $2 to $3 per week, it sounds like a lot less than $8 or $10 a month.
The insurance companies can't say exactly how many policies of this type that they sell each year. For their financial accounting, it's all lumped together as "life insurance."
A recent New York Times article describes the idea of "burial insurance," purely a marketing creation, which sound cheap at a couple of bucks a month. They're apparently an easy sell to people making $10 to $15 an hour, or even less. They buy them for spouses and even children. The article's author talked to a woman who bought a policy for her baby granddaughter and had to cash it in when the little girl died just shy of her second birthday in an auto accident which severely injured the toddler's mother.
Life insurance for children must be very profitable for the insurance companies, since children in the U.S. usually live to see adulthood these days. But for many, that $8 or $10 a month is money well spent for the peace of mind in knowing that if the worst should happen, they'd be able to give their family member a nice burial. Plus, marketed in small increments of $2 to $3 per week, it sounds like a lot less than $8 or $10 a month.
The insurance companies can't say exactly how many policies of this type that they sell each year. For their financial accounting, it's all lumped together as "life insurance."
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