Travel insurance: the attributes, consequences, and values of using travel insurance as a risk-reduction strategy

ABSTRACT

Risk seems all too often to be a travel companion. The purchase of travel insurance is one way to mitigate this, yet only a small body of research has examined consumer decision-making in this context. Using the Repertory Test and Laddering Analysis, this research examines the attributes of travel insurance, the consequences of its purchase and the terminal values that this satisfies. It presents a Hierarchical Value Map which tracks the customer journey. The study contributes to academic knowledge by identifying that not all attributes of travel insurance are brand-controlled and not all values are about reducing risk.

KEYWORDS:

• Risk
• travel insurance
• attributes
• personal construct theory
• laddering analysis
• means-end theory
• consequences
• personal values

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The research was partially funded by a grant from an international insurance company and was prepared with the assistance of the Research and Development Program, QUT Business School, Queensland University of Technology.