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The impact of product variety on customers’ default acceptance and company perception. Experimental studies for the insurance industry

Der Einfluss der Produktvielfalt auf die kundenseitige Default-Akzeptanz und Unternehmenswahrnehmung. Experimentelle Studien für die Versicherungswirtschaft

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Abstract

Many insurance companies offer a huge variety of products within one insurance category. In particular, there are rarely limits to available insurance products in the online world. Insurance companies can simply combine various insurance sums and service components to meet the needs of different customers. Using experimental studies, the paper analyzes the effect of defaults on customer choices and customers’ perceptions of the company when insurance companies offer more or less variety. The results show that defaults have an influence when a smaller, rather than a larger, number of insurance options is available. The premium image of an insurance company can only be influenced by defaults when customers know about the different default settings.

Zusammenfassung

Viele Versicherungsunternehmen bieten ihren Kunden eine große Produktvielfalt an. Vor allem online sind hier kaum Grenzen gesetzt: Durch die Kombination verschiedener Versicherungssummen und Leistungskomponenten können unterschiedliche Kundenbedürfnisse leicht erfüllt werden. In diesem Beitrag wird mittels zweier experimenteller Studien die Wirkung von Voreinstellungen, sog. Defaults, auf das Kaufverhalten von Kunden und deren Wahrnehmung des Versicherungsunternehmens untersucht, wenn Versicherungsunternehmen eine kleinere oder größere Produktauswahl anbieten. Es wird gezeigt, dass Defaults das Kaufverhalten nur dann beeinflussen, wenn eine kleinere Anzahl an Versicherungsprodukten angeboten wird. Die kundenseitige Wahrnehmung des Versicherungsunternehmens als Premium-Anbieter kann nur dann durch Defaults beeinflusst werden, wenn Kunden die verschiedenen Default-Einsatzmöglichkeiten kennen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fachbereich Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Lehrstuhl für BWL, insb. Versicherungsmarketing, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Lange Gasse 20, 90403, Nuremberg, Germany

    Michaela Grösch

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  1. Michaela Grösch
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Correspondence to Michaela Grösch.

Appendices

Appendix A

 

Table A.1 Offer of three equally priced travel insurance products
Full size table

Appendix B

 

Table B.1 Offer of seven equally priced travel insurance products
Full size table

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Grösch, M. The impact of product variety on customers’ default acceptance and company perception. Experimental studies for the insurance industry. ZVersWiss 109, 377–398 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12297-020-00458-w

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