How Do Consumers Interact with Digital Expert Advice? Experimental Evidence from Health Insurance.

This article investigates how digital expert advice tools influence consumer behavior in complex financial decisions, focusing on Medicare Part D prescription drug insurance choices among older adults. Using a randomized controlled trial, the study compares the effects of personalized information alone versus personalized information combined with digital expert recommendations on plan selection. Results show that digital expert advice changes consumer choices by both updating beliefs about product features (learning) and altering how consumers value these features (interpretation), leading to increased plan switching and selection of lower-cost plans. The study also finds significant selection effects: consumers who are already more active shoppers are more likely to use digital advice, while those predicted to benefit most from such advice are less likely to seek it, raising concerns about the distributional impact of scaling digital expertise. These findings highlight the dual role of digital advice in shaping both information and preferences and underscore challenges in reaching consumers who might gain the most from expert guidance.