In today’s world, shopping for most things has become far more convenient than decades ago, thanks to advancements in technology and the internet. Unfortunately, it does not apply to shopping for life insurance products. Consumers still find it hard to navigate the process – first, they need to understand the basic product types and then navigate the variety of additional options available to them, which can often be very confusing. These choices are not made in isolation and including one option often means foregoing another option. How do customers decide on the benefits to include? Are there any scientific explanations as to what do through their mind and what make them select one option from the others?

SCOR’s Behavioral Science team, in partnership with the Université Paris Nanterre, undertook a research initiative to look deeper into the mechanism of how and why people make specific decisions when it comes to purchasing life insurance. This article, part two of this Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) study series, focuses on three specific product features that appeal to our study participants – accident benefit and two types of survivor benefit.