Impact of the three digital divides on residents’ commercial insurance purchase behavior: An empirical study based in China

The rapid development of digital technology has profoundly transformed production, lifestyles, and consumption patterns, but it also highlights the ongoing challenge of the digital divide. This study uses data from the China Family Panel Studies 2020 to systematically explore the impact, heterogeneity, and mechanisms of access, usage, and utility digital divides on Chinese households’ commercial insurance purchasing behavior. By applying a probit model with a two-stage instrumental variable approach and conducting rigorous robustness tests, the study yields three notable results. (1) Overall, all three digital divides have significantly negative impacts on residents’ willingness to purchase commercial insurance. This implies that residents who do not use the internet, use it less frequently, or consider it to be less important are less inclined to purchase commercial insurance. Further investigation reveals that the digital divide negatively affects the amount and proportion of commercial insurance purchases. (2) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the negative impact of the digital divide on commercial insurance purchase behavior varies significantly by household registration, age, and households’ income and net assets. (3) Mechanism analysis reveals that social trust, social interaction, and insurance accessibility can mitigate the negative impact of the digital divide on commercial insurance purchase behavior. These findings contribute to the literature by providing a comprehensive framework for analyzing the multifaceted impact of the three digital divides on financial decision-making, emphasizing the importance of targeted policies to promote digital inclusion and reduce financial disparities.