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The effect of past health events on intentions to purchase insurance: Evidence from 11 countries

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  • Innocenti, Stefania
  • Clark, Gordon L.
  • McGill, Sarah
  • Cuñado, Juncal

Abstract

We investigate whether past negative health experiences are positively associated with intentions to purchase insurance to mitigate the risks of income losses due to illnesses and disabilities. Using an original survey based upon representative samples of working individuals in 11 countries, we show that agents who have personally experienced a negative health event in the past are 25% more likely to state the intention to purchase income protection insurance than those who have not had such an experience. Moreover, personally knowing someone who suffered from ill health increases intentions by 40%. Insurance ownership increases by 23% due to personal experience and by 31% because of vicarious experience.

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  • Innocenti, Stefania & Clark, Gordon L. & McGill, Sarah & Cuñado, Juncal, 2019. "The effect of past health events on intentions to purchase insurance: Evidence from 11 countries," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:74:y:2019:i:c:s0167487019302235
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2019.102204
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    2. El Halabi, Malak & Chan, Wing Yan Florence & Tunca, Burak & Ziano, Ignazio & Feldman, Gilad, 2022. "Replication: Unsuccessful replications and extensions of Temporal Value Asymmetry in monetary valuation and moral judgment," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Clark Gordon L, 2021. "The Significance of Financial Competence and Risk Tolerance in Home-Related Expenditure by Jurisdiction and Regime," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 65(1), pages 12-27, March.
    4. Gianluca Vagnani & Francesco Mazzurco, 2022. "Incidental Negative Life Events and the Disposition Effect at the Individual Level," Journal of Finance and Investment Analysis, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 11(2), pages 1-1.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Learning; Experience; Survey; Insurance purchasing intentions; Vulnerability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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