Forschungsreihe TextverständlichkeitEmpirische Studie zurWirksamkeit sprachlicher Optimierungvon Versicherungsschreibenvon Isabelle Grahn M.Sc. und Dipl.-Ing. José de la RosaThis study is about readability of insurance letters. This kind of written text often causes issues due tothe difficult language which is used. Recent research tells us a lot about how we process information,how we comprehend text by constructing mental models, and which features of a text helps us withthat. This study provides empirical evidence about how this works in the context of insurance cos-tumer communication. The authors improved a common insurance letter, based on assumptions oflinguistics and cognitive psychology. 292 participants took part in a standardized online survey,which examined the effect on text comprehension, corporate image of the insurance company, and onhow difficult participants perceive reading the letter. Compared to the control condition, participantswho received the revised letter were able to understand the content significantly better. Furthermorethis group considered reading the revised insurance letter as less effortful, and regarded the insur-ance company as more positive.