How Buyers Buy (The Purchase Funnel Series)

LIMRA Consumer Research

Summary

This report assists LIMRA members in the areas of business development and distribution effectiveness. It reveals the types of information sources and purchase channels used by different types of consumers when they shop for individual life insurance coverage. This analysis allows industry marketers to understand the attitudes and behaviors of households in their distribution systems.

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How Buyers Buy (The Purchase Funnel Series)

Key Findings

Share of distribution by purchase stage (percent using each method)

The proportion of consumers using each method changes significantly between purchase stages:
Between Stage 2 (Shop) and Stage 3 (Quote), the proportion using direct mail declines by 48 percent, while the share of distribution for online resources increases by a similar amount.
Between Stage 3 (Quote) and Stage 4 (Purchase), the proportion using online sources falls by 52 percent, while the proportion using phone distribution increases by 28 percent.
Usage rates of different methods change noticeably by household demographics. However, these tendencies also change as consumers advance through the purchase process.