GLOBAL: Indian consumers, more than any others around the world, are prepared to pay more for simpler experiences, research has shown, with insurance emerging as a particular pain point.

The Global Brand Simplicity Index, compiled by brand strategy firm Siegel+Gale, is a report of global brand ratings, based on an online survey of more than 14,000 consumers in nine countries who rated a total of 857 brands to gather perspectives on simplicity and how industries and brands make people's lives simpler or more complex.

This found that, globally, 64% of consumers were willing to pay more for a simpler experience, but in India that figure rose to 92%; China was not far behind at 85%.

Some industries performed better than others, with internet search coming out top in most countries (second in China behind electronics) and general insurance bottom of the 25 sectors considered.

In India, six of the bottom ten places were occupied by insurance – five general, one health – while in China, seven of the bottom ten places were general insurance businesses.

In what is already a low-interest category, however, few consumers were prepared to pay a premium for greater simplicity. Only between 15% and 20% of those in China, and between 30% and 40% in India, indicated a readiness to do so.

In China, the electronics sector, at 40% of consumers, attracted the greatest willingness to pay more. Electronics jointly topped the table in India, along with telcom/cellphones and banks, with just over half (50% to 52%) of consumers happy to hand over more cash in the interest of simplicity.

More generally, the report highlighted the fact that people are more likely to recommend a brand if it provides simpler experiences and communications.

And employees play a vital role in this: 62% of employees at 'simple' companies were 'brand champions', compared to only 20% of employees at 'complex' companies.

Data sourced from Siegel+Gale; additional content by Warc staff