Consumer Scoring: Representative Survey on Acceptance and Knowledge of (Novel) Scoring Methods

On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, infas conducted a representative telephone survey of the population for the German Council of Consumer Experts with the aim of providing comprehensive data on the population´s knowledge and acceptance of (new types of) scoring methods. The central topic of the survey was the attitude of the population towards possible, new types of consumer scores for motor vehicle insurance and health insurance.

Topics: 1. Mobility and health: Type of mobility in everyday life; possession of car driving licence; points in Flensburg; self-assessment of health status; frequency of at least half an hour of sport; measurement of health behaviour over a longer period of time; self-assessment of willingness to take risks; agreement with various statements (enjoyment of using new technical devices, selection of apps and other digital services according to high data protection standards, selection of products and services according to price, help for the socially weak regardless of reasons, help for the socially weak even if the situation is self-inflicted, help for the socially weak if the situation is not self-inflicted).

2. Prior knowledge in the area of financial scoring: Level of information on Schufa assessment criteria for assessing creditworthiness and solvency (person with unpaid bill despite obligation to pay, neighbour with unpaid bill despite obligation to pay, age, current payment of a loan, extent of assets, behaviour in social networks, occupation, nationality); willingness to publish one´s own creditworthiness on the internet; desire to publish the creditworthiness of all persons in Germany on the internet; Schufa self-reporting in the last five years; Schufa score believed to be correct; reason why Schufa score was not believed to be correct (open, coded mentions).

3. Evaluation of new types of scores or telematics tariffs: Opinion on consumer scores in the areas of car and health insurance (splits) based on a hypothetical, new type of insurance tariff that rewards compliant behaviour with a more favourable tariff (bonus) or punishes non-compliant behaviour with a less favourable tariff (malus):

Split 1: Motor insurance: Criteria perceived as justified for the motor insurance bonus (keeping to the specified speed, no mobile phone messages while driving, driving the car mostly during the day, driving the car mostly in the countryside, careful acceleration and braking) and for the motor insurance penalty (exceeding the speed limit, mobile phone messages while driving, driving the car mostly at night, driving the car mostly in the city, careless acceleration and braking); Conceivable use of a new type of car insurance tariff; reasons for favouring or rejecting the car tariff (open); acceptable frequency of a feedback on the mobile phone about one´s own driving behaviour; willingness to publish one´s own score from motor insurance on the internet; desire to publish the scores from motor insurance of all drivers in Germany; willingness to use a new type of combination tariff consisting of health insurance and motor insurance; reasons for one´s decision (open); support for the introduction of a recording of driving speed with transmission to the police; possible consequences of such a recording of driving speed with transmission to the police (increased safety on the roads, increased justice, restricted personal freedom);

Split 2: Health insurance: Criteria perceived as justified for health insurance bonus (6 kilometres per day walking, 7-8 hours sleep per night, small amounts of alcohol, normal weight, cancer screening, non-smoker) and for health insurance penalty (less than 6 kilometres per day walking, less than 7-8 hours sleep per night, more than small amounts of alcohol, overweight, no cancer screening, smoker); Willingness to use such a new type of health insurance tariff that takes into account characteristics such as step count, sleep, alcohol consumption, smoking and body weight; reasons for one´s own decision (open); acceptable frequency of feedback on one´s own health behaviour on the mobile phone; Willingness to publish one´s own health insurance score on the internet; desire to publish health insurance scores on the health behaviour of all persons in Germany; willingness to use a new type of combination tariff consisting of health insurance and car insurance; reasons for one´s own decision (open); advocacy of recording the number of steps per day with possible participation in medical costs; consequences of such recording of the number of steps per day with possible participation in medical costs (better health of the population, increased equity, restricted personal freedom).

4. Social score (again all): opinion on the introduction of a social score system; possible consequences of the introduction of such a social score system (increased security, increased justice, reduced personal freedom).

5. Attitudes: Belief of control (control over own life, success needs effort, determination of own life by others, plans thwarted by fate; usefulness of various technical applications for solving societal problems (digitalisation of the economy to ensure international competitiveness, use of renewable energies to combat global warming, monitoring of data to maintain internal security, genetic modification of crops for food supply, preference for environmentally friendly means of transport in transport planning, use of robots to care for people in need of care).

Demography: sex; age; German citizenship; highest school or university degree; employment status; marital status; ownership of car insurance; impairment when climbing stairs; impairment during strenuous activities; type of health insurance; household size; number of persons in the household aged 16 and over; net household income;

Additionally coded were: Interview number; random assignment to car insurance/health insurance or bonus/malus questionnaire splits; postcode place of residence (recoded); state; size of town; number of landline phone numbers; number of mobile phone numbers; number of mobile phone numbers of other household members; weighting factor.