Many people have unsuitable life insurance cover or no cover at all. In this study, we survey consumers about their readiness to purchase life insurance. Consumers rate their own “decision state” from “pre-aware” of life insurance to “aware,” “interested” or “capable” of deciding to purchase. We also collect data on factors associated with progress along the path to purchase. We find that personal values partly determine life insurance decision states. Values matter in addition to the needs of dependents, bequest intentions, and financial literacy. Consumers who place more value on benevolence and self-direction are more likely to be aware of life insurance. Our results suggest strategies to promote suitable life insurance cover by targeting factors that help progress through each decision state. Insurance providers could thus prime benevolence and self-direction in advertising and product information.

中文翻译：

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通过人寿保险决策解释消费者的进步：个人价值观和消费者特征的作用

许多人没有合适的人寿保险或根本没有保险。在这项研究中，我们调查了消费者购买人寿保险的意愿。消费者对自己的“决策状态”进行评级，从“预先了解”人寿保险到“了解”、“有兴趣”或“有能力”决定购买。我们还收集与购买过程中的进展相关的因素的数据。我们发现个人价值观在一定程度上决定了人寿保险的决策状态。除了家属的需求、遗赠意图和金融知识之外，价值观也很重要。更看重仁慈和自我导向的消费者更有可能了解人寿保险。我们的研究结果提出了通过针对有助于在每个决策状态中取得进展的因素来促进合适的人寿保险承保的策略。因此，保险提供商可以在广告和产品信息中体现仁慈和自我导向。