1. ¹School of Accounting and Finance, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
2. ²University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA

Correspondence: Chuck C Y Kwok, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, 1705 College Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. Tel: +1 803 777 3606; Fax: +1 803 777 3609; E-mail: ckwok@moore.sc.edu

Received 31 May 2005; Revised 29 December 2006; Accepted 24 June 2007; Published online 13 September 2007.

Abstract

This cross-disciplinary study examines the way national culture affects consumption patterns of life insurance across countries. Life insurance is a service that is abstract, complex, and focused on unsure future benefits. Because of the uncertainty and ambiguity inherent in the life insurance product, consumers are more likely to respond according to their cultural prescriptions. Our research hypotheses are tested empirically using Hofstede's cultural dimensions, and data from 1976–2001 across 41 countries. The findings show that individualism indeed has a significant, positive effect on life insurance consumption, whereas power distance and masculinity/femininity have significant, negative effects. The results are robust, even after controlling for economic, institutional and demographic determinants.