Sign-up Intent

Why this matters for your decision

Tariff decisions are long-term: a new module, a different deductible, a monthly price or a minimum term changes the business for years. At the same time, tariffs are hard to change in the market on a trial basis, because existing customers, regulators and sales are affected.

In surveys, contract products often seem more attractive than at the moment of the offer. Additional cover, green tariffs or premium accounts are socially desirable, and the hurdle of signing up with a term and a monthly premium is missing. Measured sign-up intent shows which tariff variant people actually choose when faced with a realistic offer.

How Horizon measures sign-up intent

Real people reach a realistic tariff page via Google or Meta ads, with benefits, monthly premium and terms. The signal is the last binding click before the reveal, for example "Sign up now". If a question step is built in before sign-up, such as year of birth or postcode for a premium, submitting this information counts towards the signal.

No contract is created and no payment details are collected. Anyone who chooses the tariff is told transparently afterwards that it is a test. Up to six variants run in parallel, and each person sees only one.

Example

An insurer is considering a supplementary dental tariff in two variants: with a waiting period of eight months at €14.90 a month, or without a waiting period at €17.90. In the survey, a clear majority prefers the variant without a waiting period.

In the behavioural test, 2.2 % of visitors to the variant with a waiting period show sign-up intent, compared with 2.5 % for the variant without. The difference is smaller than the survey suggested. For the decision, this means: dropping the waiting period supports only part of the price premium, and the question shifts to the level of the premium.

How it differs

Purchase intent describes the decision for a product with a one-off price, sign-up intent the decision for a contract with an ongoing premium. A lead, that is a contact or advice request, is a weaker signal: it shows interest, not the decision for a specific tariff. Signing up for news after the reveal is a secondary signal, because the person then already knows that it is a test.

Limitations

What is measured is the decision on the tariff page, not what happens later: withdrawal, health questions, credit checks or cancellation after a year are not reflected in the test. Where such steps strongly shape the business, they belong in the calculation after the test.

Advice-based products that are almost exclusively sold through intermediaries can also be reproduced online only with limitations. Here the test measures the response to the offer in the online environment, which is meaningful for the choice between variants, less so for the total volume of a sales channel.