POLARITY OF CUSTOMER APPROACHES: PARADOXES OF MEASURING THE UTILITY OF INSURANCE POLICY

The paper proposes the method of the research for potential demand in insurance and life insurance sectors, in particular. The research was aimed at verifying the hypothesis of incompatibility of real and potential demand for insurance, indemnifying the income of the insured or his/her family. Proving the hypothesis as wrong, it leads to the conclusion of there is lack of insurance awareness on possibilities of market development which is still in disproportion in comparison to the markets of the UK, the USA, France or Germany. The research was performed in 500 randomly chosen households in Poland. Verification of the hypothesis was made on the basis of declared premiums for particular insurance groups and their transformation into subjective pricing of the properties and the level of security after reaching retirement age.