Behavioral drivers of individuals’ Term Life Insurance Demand: evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment

Term life insurance contracts differ from one another: private information level asked to applicants, options presence in the contract, or claim payment type. Understanding how individuals’ demand is influenced by these possibilities is not straightforward. We explore socioeconomic and behavioral characteristics that might influence term life insurance demand through a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE). On a sample representative of the French population, we estimate individuals’ characteristics that influence (1) term life insurance purchasing decision and (2) Willingness to Pay for each feature of the contract without testing new features directly in the market. In addition to socioeconomic characteristics, behavioral factors permit to better understand overall demand for term life insurance product as well as characteristics of such contract. Future concerns, optimism about survival, perceived asset management risk, and altruism influence term life insurance purchasing behavior.