Emerging Project Lessons
Though the target population could be divided into three income segments it was decided to not fine-tune the product because the target population was not sufficiently large. Results from the market survey showed the self-employed entrepreneurs falling into three income segments: 108000 – 300000MNT, 300001-500000MNT, and 500 001-1000 000 MNT monthly incomes. Each segment has different expectations of a microinsurance product and varying willingness to pay. For now, the project will not explore finer segmentation since the target population is not sufficiently large (barely 10,000).
Target population for microinsurance varies by region. Roughly 40 per cent of people in Mongolia are in the “low income” category; but while microinsurance customers are “low income” people, there is no commonly accepted and strictly formulated definition for “low income”. The definition of “low income” varies by region within the country e.g. people who are not considered to be “low income” in rural Mongolia may be considered to be in the “low income” category in urban Mongolia because of the differences in cost of living, demand for goods and services etc. Hence, the microinsurance product needs to take into account the needs, demand and cultural aspect of the specific “low income” group in the target region.
Date of last Learning Journey update: September 2011
