Pet insurance services adoption: how values, reasoning, and insurance literacy shape consumer intentions in an emerging market

Purpose This study aims to examine pet-insurance adoption in India through behavioral reasoning theory (BRT), focusing on how openness to change and social value shape reasons for and against adoption, how these reasons influence attitude and purchase intention and whether insurance literacy strengthens the attitude–intention relationship. Design/methodology/approach A sequential mixed-methods design was used. Interviews with 17 pet owners identified the facilitators and inhibitors. Survey data from 352 respondents were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the mediation and moderation effects. Demographic moderation was treated as an exploratory analysis. Findings Openness to change strengthened both reasons for and reasons against adoption, whereas social value strengthened supportive reasoning and reduced opposing reasoning. Reasons for adoption positively influenced attitude and intention, whereas reasons against adoption had negative effects. Attitude was the strongest predictor of purchase intention, and insurance literacy strengthened the attitude–intention relationship. The unexpected positive association between openness to change and reasons against adoption suggests that receptiveness to novelty may intensify scrutiny of benefits and barriers instead of uniformly increasing adoption readiness. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional sample limits the causal inference and generalizability of the findings. Future research should test the deliberative role of openness to change using longitudinal, behavioral and cross-market designs. Practical implications Insurers should address benefits and barriers, including affordability, exclusions, coverage limits and claims procedures, while using pet-insurance education to support informed evaluation. Originality/value The study refines BRT by showing that openness to change can intensify supportive and opposing reasoning and identifies insurance literacy as a domain-specific boundary condition on the attitude–intention relationship.