Indeed, while such a dramatic fluctuation of survey results among disparate age groups ordinarily suggests nothing more than the usual changes of habits and temperaments related with growing older, there's little reason to believe the first generation to grow up around the internet will soon start questioning its legitimacy.

Millennials have already proven to be a difficult market for life insurance. A 2015 study by the Life Insurance and Market Research Association found that less than 20 percent of Americans aged 18 to 34 thought themselves very likely of ever purchasing such a policy.

Furthermore, this trend has doubtlessly played an important role in the diminishing significance of the industry as a whole. Thirty years ago, companies specializing in life insurance comprised nearly one half the valuation of all financial services concerns, but their share of the same sector has shrunken to just one quarter.

Several firms have already taken steps to combat the problem by fashioning ad campaigns expressly targeted toward that elusive demographic. As means of sweetening the consideration of financial planning, some have even begun hosting de facto educational seminars under the guise of a subsidized wine tasting or culinary masterclass so that attendees may learn to associate the drearier aspects of maturity with the more aspirational components of adulthood.

Although such efforts may one day be valuable in terms of fostering awareness, strategies that still rely upon the personal relationships developed by individual agents will risk alienating a generation predisposed toward negotiating with service providers through a virtual interface.

In apparent response to the disconnect separating the desires of younger Americans from traditional industry practices, Lincoln Financial Group this week launched an innovative program seemingly tailored to appease millennials' issues regarding the perceived difficulty and invasiveness of life insurance applications.

To initiate policies through Lincoln TermAccel, interested parties need only to fill out a short questionnaire over the internet and then schedule an appointment so that company representatives may conduct a brief interview over the phone. No face-to-face meetings are required under normal circumstances, and, should the initial data prove sufficient, applicants could qualify for coverage without ever venturing offline.

Emphasizing the benefits for time-starved millennials, Lincoln Senior Vice President Heather Milligan explains that the streamlined process "combines technology and automated underwriting capabilities to transform and simplify the life insurance purchasing experience in a manner more consistent with today's consumer expectations."

While it's far too soon to gauge whether the newly launched program proves to be an effective method of garnering support among the target audience, the underlying philosophies driving Lincoln TermAccel at least appear to acknowledge that wholesale changes of approach are necessary to attract twenty-somethings otherwise accustomed to digitized interactions.

After all, the realities of a world shaped by the internet has already revolutionized most every existing industry. Perhaps, in order to aid the next generation of consumers, life insurance companies must first adapt to the way people now live.