The Challenge

Many people receiving home claim process emails are considered vulnerable, especially individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia. A reputable insurance company requested our help to review their communication and identify opportunities to improve clients’ email comprehension and information retention, particularly vulnerable ones.

The Approach

We reviewed some email templates to identify any behavioural principles that could be helpful in increasing the ease of information processing. We also conducted secondary research to find tried and tested means for making letters suited for individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia. We then ran an online survey to test whether the modified letters have increased participants’ comprehension scores. In the next sections, we discuss each of those in more detail.

The Behavioural Principles

We applied the following behavioural principles in redesigning the emails:

  • Chunking: Breaking information into smaller chunks and highlighting critical areas helps individuals process information more easily.
  • Checklists: these help people remember important steps in a process, especially if they’re in stressful situations.
  • Simplification: individuals are more likely to process information more easily and take action when it is clear what is being asked of them.

Further Insights from Secondary Research

Our secondary research regarding tailoring letters for individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia yielded the following insights:

  • Using pictures could be helpful (while icons could be confusing).
  • Individuals with dementia prefer larger sized fonts and contrasting colours.
  • Messages need to be short and simple. They should not exceed three lines per paragraph.
  • Using bullet points, bold text and titles to separate information, and putting information that needs to stand out inside boxes.

Putting the Modified Emails to the Test

To test whether the changes we made to the emails improved comprehension, we conducted an online survey with 1089 individuals across the UK.

All participants had a certain amount of time to read the emails (modified or original). Some participants were then provided with distractors: solving simple mathematical questions or finding an X in a series of W’s. The purpose of adding distractors was to increase the information load on these participants, thereby mimicking cognitive burdens such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.

After reading the emails, participants were presented with 11 questions. The underlying assumption was that the more participants understood the contents of the emails, the more correct answers they would provide in the comprehension test. As such, we hypothesized that the edited emails would lead to a better understanding of the letter and hence, higher comprehension scores, even with the distractors in place.

Individuals exposed to the modified emails scored significantly higher (about 7-10% difference) on the comprehension test compared to those who were exposed to the original email.

Our findings suggest that by making some visual adjustments and changes to the text, people are able to process the information more easily and are more likely to understand and retain the information.

You can read a few case studies about comprehension: DAS Insurance, increase customers’ understanding of Legal Expenses, and LV= pension statement readability.

For more on this speak with us, or have a look at our capabilities

Also, as co-founders and supporters of the London Behavioural Economics Network, join the Meetup group and Facebook group for more details and events

Behavioural science Comprehension mental models Vulnerable customers