Vox Inc., a customer experience consulting firm, today released its First-Quarter 2007 Auto Insurance Mind Model Study, revealing four problem areas with online auto insurance sites.

Chicago-based Vox's study evaluated the home pages and usability of 14 major auto insurance providers' Web sites to examine customer expectations and discover where companies succeed or fail in attracting and retaining customers.

The study revealed four main areas that may cause frustration and site abandonment: long quote process, lack of advanced search functions, little cross-cultural information and inflexible screen design, the firm said.

"Recognizing what customers are actually encountering when they go online and how that varies from their needs and expectations is essential to creating the ideal customer experience," said Luis Serpa, account director and Web usability expert at Vox Inc.

Findings also revealed that despite advances in technology and marketing strategies, customers continue to get lost in the process--both literally and figuratively--pointing to a continuing conflict between site design and usability, said Vox.

The study's highest scorers included State Farm and Progressive, the researcher noted. "These sites combine straightforward content and simple design with intuitive navigation, making them highly user-friendly," said Vox.

Other companies evaluated include: 21st Century, Allstate, Esurance, GEICO, Liberty Mutual, American Family, Farmers, Nationwide, AAA (Chicago Motor Club), AIG, Country Financial and USAA.

The Mind Model study is a combination of three different element analysis techniques that evaluate Web site home pages to understand how typical customers experience a company's online channel, said Vox. The First-Quarter 2007 Auto Insurance Mind Model is the fourth such comprehensive study released by Vox.

Founded in 1997, Vox Inc. said it helps companies raise their bottom line through higher customer retention, increased cross sales and more profitable customer life cycles. Further details are available at www.voxinc.com.

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Study Highlights Problems With Auto Insurance Web Sites

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