Jenny McDonnell hosts this episode of SCOR Innovation Podcast featuring Meglena Jeleva to discuss a research study that explored consumer purchasing behavior of life insurance. Jeleva shares how the team of three researchers used a discrete choice experiment to gain insights about which features of a life insurance product are most important to customers and to learn about how willing people are to pay for these features and how they make trade-offs between them. Understanding what is most important to which clients is fundamental to reducing the protection gap, identifying new markets and moving to direct-to-consumer marketing.

Meglena Jeleva is a full professor of economics at University Paris Nanterre where her research focus in behavioral economics explores the impact of risk perception on insurance behavior, specifically in environmental, health and natural disaster risks. Her research has been published in leading journals. She is a member of the Economics Laboratory Board of Directors, a member of the scientific committee of Journal Risk and a member of the steering committee of Prevention Horizon Share. In addition, she is a scientific expert for the French Red Cross and coordinates the master’s program in statistics and economics at University Paris Nanterre.

Jenny McDonnell is Acting Head of Behavioural Science with SCOR’s global research function, the Knowledge and Data team.  She is also Head of Life Business Acceptance for SCOR Global Reinsurance Ireland. Jenny is keen to support SCOR’s clients through the use of behavioural economics research insights in product development, retention management and assumption setting. Jenny graduated from Dublin City University, receiving first class honours in her degree in Actuarial and Financial Mathematics. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland, having qualified as an actuary in 2007.