| Abstract: |
This article investigates the understandings and perceptions of
(micro)insurance among low-income people in southern Ghana, using evidence
from four focus group discussions. It analyzes how the focus group
participants think about various types of insurance - among them a micro life
insurance product - and how their negative and/or positive evaluations have
come about. The evidence indicates that (micro)insurance is mostly positively
perceived by the participants of the focus group discussions. However, it is
also found that many people's image of insurance is based on incomplete (and
sometimes erroneous) information, or even on intuition. In addition, the
experiences or opinions of peers turn out to be critical in shaping an
individual's perception of insurance. These two factors potentially have a
contagious effect, which can lead to unreasonably positive or overly negative
ideas about (micro)insurance. Such ideas, in turn, can become detrimental to
the further distribution of microinsurance. |