PERSUASION TACTICS USED IN INSURANCE ADVERTISEMENTS

The Analyzation of Persuasion Tactics Used In Insurance Advertisements

Caroline Butts
Communication and Applied Analytics Major
December 18, 2015

PERSUASION TACTICS USED IN INSURANCE ADVERTISEMENTS

Introduction
In order to differentiate themselves from the competition, insurance companies air
commercials primarily using two persuasive tactics, threat appeals and utilitarian and valueexpressive functions of the Functional Approach. With the most effective being the Functional
Approach, there are still opportunities to increase use of other tactics, specifically with central
messages.
Insurance Commercials
The United States insurance industry is a trillion dollar trade with a total of 6,118
companies employing 2.5 million people in 2014, according to the National Association of
Insurance Commissioners and the U.S. Department of Labor respectively (Industry Overview,
2015). There are two major categories, Property/Casualty and Life/Health. Property/Casualty, or
P/C, is comprised of auto, home, and commercial insurance where Life/Health, or L/H, consists
of annuity plans and life insurance. Health is its own category covering both private and
government health programs. (Industry Overview, 2015)
Allstate, State Farm, Liberty Mutual, Geico, Aflac, Farmers, Travelers, Nationwide,
Progressive, and Esurance are just a few of the 6,118 companies that provide Property/Casualty
and Life/Health insurance in the United States. Through extensive advertisements broadcasted on
a range of television networks, they have also become household names. The Geico Gecko, Jake
from State Farm, Allstates Mayhem, and Flo from Progressive are embedded into our popular
culture and recognizable by even small children and teens outside of the target market.
Because of this popularity and large net of competition, insurance companies have to
make their commercials stand out from the crowd to persuade consumers to pick their services

PERSUASION TACTICS USED IN INSURANCE ADVERTISEMENTS

over the others. Commonly found tactics to achieve these goals include humor, fear, emotion,
value-expressive stories, utilitarian facts, peripheral designs, relatable situations, celebrity
appearances, and cognitive dissonance. However, the most prevalent strategies when it comes to
persuasion in insurance advertisements are threat appeals and the Functional Approach,
specifically utilitarian and value-expressive functions.
Threat Appeals
The use of threat appeals, also known as fear appeals, is a persuasive strategy where
messages are designed to encourage the adoption of behaviors aimed at protecting against a
potential threat (OKeefe, 2015). This is achieved by sharing a portrayal of a threatening
incident or consequence and recommending a protective action (OKeefe, 2015).
There are three components to an effective threat appeal message: the provoked fear
emotion, a perceived threat, or whether or not the target feels vulnerable to a possible danger,
and perceived efficacy, or belief that the recommendation will reduce the threat and the ability in
themselves to carry it out. If all goes well, the attitudes and intentions will be changed and the
target would then execute the recommended action in order to protect themselves, or others, from
the perceived threat. This route is called the danger control process and is the goal of threat
appeal persuaders.
Insurance companies attempt to do just that by inducing fear and motivating customers to
take action and purchase their insurance. Allstate is a classic example with their slogan Are you
in good hands? Their commercial Magic 8 Ball starts off by asking whether the target is sure
that they got a good deal on car insurance and continues with questions like If a friend
borrows your car and something happens, are you covered? and Will your rates go up if you

PERSUASION TACTICS USED IN INSURANCE ADVERTISEMENTS

have an accident?, finally concluding with the competencies of Allstate and the companies
slogan (see Appendix A). This commercial is effective at using threat appeals because viewers
would answer these questions in their head, and if they were not able to answer with a confident,
positive answer it is cause for concern. However, they are now aware that by switching to
Allstate they will be put in good hands and have all of these questions answered and covered.
Yet again, Allstate uses fear appeals with their realistic portrayals of threats to auto,
home, and life, embodied by the character Mayhem. In one specific commercial, Raccoon
Mayhem, viewers are told to be better protected from mayhem after watching Raccoon
Mayhem tear apart an attic and roof of a home (see Appendix B). By feeling the perceived threat
and vulnerability of these problems caused by Mayhem, the target must evaluate whether they
feel confident in their own insurance coverage in these potential situations. If they feel the need
to protect themselves through the danger control process, the end of the commercial will ensure
them that it will be possible since nobody protects you from mayhem like Allstate agents (see
Appendix B).
One Farmers Insurance commercial, Coverage Gaps, brings the issue that an
insurance customer might not be covering what you think they are. In this example the family
thinks they are covered for a whole pool and waterfall when they are really only insured for a
small pond (see Appendix C). The fear emotion would come in when people think about the
coverage that they believe they have and wonder if there are gaps that they do not know about.
Liberty Mutual addresses the looming fear that something could always happen in their
commercial Makes You Wonder. The threat is that if you go cheapbecause youre never
gonna need it one day you will be paying for the poor insurance decision (see Appendix D).
Always knowing deep down inside that car accidents are a possibility, viewers would be more

PERSUASION TACTICS USED IN INSURANCE ADVERTISEMENTS

likely to reach to Liberty Mutual for that something better out there to protect themselves (see
Appendix D).
A downfall of the use of threat appeals is the potential to backfire or be ineffective if the
components of fear, threat, and efficacy are not all recognized by the target. For example, if the
target does not personally feel threatened from the message they will have no response and
dismiss the recommendation. If the perceived efficacy of the recommendation is low, the target
will not take action because they do not believe it will be feasible. Another possibility, called fear
control process, is when the fear emotion overpowers and leads to defensive action rather than
protective. In these cases the target will go out of their way to rationalize and discredit the fear in
order to put it aside instead of protecting against it.
A disadvantage on the side of the persuader is the potential to cross the line when it
comes to the intensity of the threat. It has been found that the greater intensity the message the
greater the chance fear and persuasion will occur. But, if the threat is so outrageous it becomes
unrealistic, the recipients tune out the message and so do not come to accept the
recommendations (OKeefe, 2015). This is the case in Nationwide Insurances commercial,
Life Comes at You Fast, where a butterfly sets off a car alarm initiating a domino effect of
events that ultimately leads to a motor boat being catapulted into someones home (see Appendix
E). A viewer of this commercial would acknowledge that this situation is too impractical and
dismiss it without feeling the need to evaluate their current insurance protection since they do not
feel threatened.

PERSUASION TACTICS USED IN INSURANCE ADVERTISEMENTS

Functional Approach
The Functional Approach is a principle that argues: the most effective technique for
changing an attitude may vary depending on the attitudes function (OKeefe 2015). These
attitude functions are separated into four groups: utilitarian, ego-defensive, value-expressive, and
knowledge. Utilitarian covers attitudes that look to reduce cost and increase rewards, egodefensive attitudes defend a persons self-image, value-expressive attitudes represent how it is
more favorable to hold and convey attitudes that are similar to ones morals, and knowledge
mirrors the roles of attitudes in organizing and understanding information and events
(OKeefe, 2015). In order for a persuader to attract a target, they must choose a function that
applies best to the targets own view and form a message around that. By sending a message that
aligns with the targets attitudes, the target will be persuaded to act.
Specifically in insurance, the two most popular and effective attitude functions used are
utilitarian, because consumers do not want to be spending more than they are receiving, and
value-expressive, because consumers want their insurance provider to hold the same importance
for the things they do.
From a literal cost versus benefit perspective, Progressives Rate Suckers commercial
uses the utilitarian attitude function to get people to stop paying for rate suckers that are
making their car insurance rates more expensive (see Appendix F). This message shows that a
utilitarian person could currently be suffering from more cost than benefit because of bad drivers.
However, they are told that by trying out the snapshot from Progressive, for free, they could save
money based on their good driving, therefore decreasing cost and increasing benefit which would
attract people that benefit this attitude.

PERSUASION TACTICS USED IN INSURANCE ADVERTISEMENTS

Another cost versus benefit situation, not wasting time switching insurance, is addressed
in the Geico advertisements Everybody Knows That and Esurances Beatrice (see Appendix
G and H). Each commercial addresses this fact with Geico claiming it takes fifteen minutes and
Esurance advertising even less, seven and a half minutes, to sign up for their insurance. As a
viewer, it is made clear that if they wanted to switch to Geico or Esurance for a better insurance
provider it would not cost too much of their time.
Finally, State Farm shows they provide the utilitarian convenience of being there to help
you anytime, anywhere, anyway in their commercial Grandmas Help (see Appendix I). With
one call, Kevins State Farm agent appears and assures him that he is covered for his car damage,
where Jimmy has to wait on the phone to even get in contact with his Blah Blah insurance.
This represents the benefits of accessibility that comes with having State Farm insurance, leading
customers with Blah Blah to choose to improve what they are getting out of their provider by
switching over to State Farm and eliminating costs.
Travelers commercial Dog and Bone tells the story of a dog that is worried about his
bone being stolen and the alternatives that he uses to try and protect it (see Appendix J). The
commercial ends with the dog confident in the protection of Travelers Insurance and the tag line,
when it comes to things you care about, leave nothing to chance. The value-expressive
message of this commercial lets the viewer know that Travelers cares about what you care about
and will protect it in a way that makes you feel secure.
Liberty Mutual uses the values represented by the Statue of Liberty to portray that their
company has the same. Each commercial currently advertised on the Liberty Mutual website is
set in front of the Statue of Liberty itself and to emphasize this point even further there is even a
video on their YouTube page Liberty Mutual Insurance Presents American Stories that

PERSUASION TACTICS USED IN INSURANCE ADVERTISEMENTS

discusses these values specifically (see Appendix K and L). In the video, five uniquely
inspirational Americans describe the statue of liberty, listing a sense of direction, supporting
everyone form anywhere without exception, a life in America, opportunities, liberty, hope,
freedom, and power. These characteristics and values represented by the Statue of Liberty rubs
off onto the insurance company themselves because it is their logo. So for anyone who is looking
for an insurance company with these values, they can see that Liberty Mutual will provide it for
them.
A downfall of the Functional Approach is the fact that the persuasive effects are
completely dependent on the individual and the situation, therefore it is hard to impact every
target at once because not everyone identifies with the same function.
To explain further, the reason why people are attracted to certain functions is influenced
by a persons personality and motivations, the attitude object, and situational variations. Each
individual personality falls on the spectrum of high to low self-monitoring, or the control or
manipulation of ones self perception. For example, high self-monitors, who care about how they
are perceived by others, tend to hold importance in ego-defensive attitudes. And low selfmonitors, who base how they act off of their values and not others, sway to the value-expressive
attitudes. There are also different motivations, or reasons, behind a persons particular attitude
that determines why they feel a certain way and prefer a certain function. Sometimes the object
itself can restrict the plausible function choices, while other times situations that companies use
to market products influence how a message is framed and perceived.
Messages that contain multiple functions are not as effective in persuading as a message
that represents one straightforward function because the messages become less straightforward
and the viewers will not identify as strongly with their function. Therefore, the Functional

PERSUASION TACTICS USED IN INSURANCE ADVERTISEMENTS

Approach always requires more extensive advertising in order to address each function
individually, ruling general umbrella messages to cover varying attitudes out as a suitable
option.
More Effective Tactic
The two most common persuasion tactics have an effectiveness that justifies why they are
used so often, but the Functional Approach is the more valuable of the two. Threat appeals work
well to grab peoples attention, whether they have insurance or not, as it causes them to worry if
they are not covered enough or not covered at all. The Functional Approach is fitting when trying
to get people to purchase a big item or something that they already have, like insurance, because
it specifically addresses the consumers own attitudes. Both of the methods do not guarantee
persuasive success as treat appeals have to have fear and efficacy and the Functional Approach
must represent an attitude the target actually has to lead to action. However, in the end, messages
using the Functional Approach can strongly effect people with their messages because, as long as
they match up with a viewers attitude, a connection will be made and the viewer will feel the
message is directly for them. Threat appeals on the other hand, leave chance for dropping off
once the fear is addressed if any efficacy is low or the fear is too high.
Potential Effective Tactic
Another effective persuasive tactic that insurance companies surprisingly do not use more
prevalently are centrally processed messages in the Elaboration Likelihood Model, or ELM.
ELM is based on the idea that under different conditions, receivers will vary in degree to which
they are likely to engage in elaboration of information (OKeefe, 2015). Depending on this
degree, there are two levels of engagement: central, involving systematic thinking, and

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peripheral involving cognitive shortcuts. Therefore, persuaders form different style messages
to get the attention of both groups and attempt to persuade them.
Messages that attract central processers use facts, statistics, quality sources, and credible
spokespeople. Messages that attract peripheral processers use images, music, colors, celebrities,
humor, and heuristics, specifically credibility, like, and herd mentality.
Processers that have a prior knowledge of the subject, personal relevance to the product,
and need for cognition, or information, make up the qualities of a central processer. This make up
is exactly what someone researching insurance companies for coverage embodies. There is,
evidently, a large market looking for better insurance, or insurance in general, which would
engage in this kind of central messaging that insurance companies just are not taking advantage
of. Many commercials, even the ones discussed above, just touch on their services saying it will
save them money. Most insurance commercials however just state their slogan at the end of a
funny video and are done.
Although it might be considered uninteresting for those peripheral processers who are not
invested in insurance, it is exactly what the central processers need to save them from doing the
research on their own. Having all the information they are looking for included in the
commercial would allow these central viewers to get all of their material in one easy place and
streamline their persuasion.
Liberty Mutual Insurance rose above the rest with their new campaign using central style
messages to shine a light on this otherwise confusing category (see Appendix K). In their
commercial, Deductible Fund, Liberty Mutual shares that with their Deductible Fund
customers could ultimately pay no deductible at all (see Appendix M). First by signing up and

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immediately lowering [their] deductible by $100 and keep lowering it $100 annually until its
gone also adding that by switching to Liberty Mutual they could save up to $509. Accident
Forgiveness- Poster Child states that for drivers with accident forgiveness Liberty Mutual
wont raise your rates due to your first accident (see Appendix N). The Better Car
Replacement commercial states that if signed up Liberty Mutual will pay for a car that is a
model year newer with 15,000 fewer miles than your old totaled car (see Appendix O).The
commercial, Blindsided, shows that New Car Replacement will pay for the entire value of
your car, plus depreciation if you get into an accident shortly after purchasing a car (see
Appendix P). New Car Totaled touches on the features provided Liberty Mutual car insurance
by sharing that New Car Replacement is just one of the features that comes standard with the
base Liberty Mutual Policy (see Appendix Q).
This campaign allows the central processer to use their prior knowledge about insurance
to analyze the facts given in detail in the commercials. With this information potential customer
will know exactly what they will personally be getting into by switching to Liberty Mutual since
their need for cognition would be satisfied. Overall, this is a very effective and persuasive
campaign that other insurance companies should look into modeling their messages after.
Conclusion
Incorporating central messages and continuing to use threat appeals, utilitarian, and
value-expressive functions, will keep insurance companies persuasive strategies competitive. By
addressing peoples fears, attitudes, and using their personal investment and need for information,
insurance commercials will remain compelling and convincing to potential consumers.

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References
Industry Overview. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/industry-overview
O'Keefe, D. (2015). Functional Approaches to Attitude. In Persuasion: Theory and Research
(3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
O'Keefe, D. (2015). Message Factors. In Persuasion: Theory and Research (3rd ed.). SAGE
Publications.
O'Keefe, D. (2015). Elaboration Likelihood Model. In Persuasion: Theory and Research (3rd
ed.). SAGE Publications.

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Appendix
Appendix A
Allstate Insurance Magic 8 Ball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0toJxCvtmI
Appendix B
Allstate Insurance Raccoon Mayhem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07h2O496kyU
Appendix C
Farmers Insurance Coverage Gaps http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7rlw/farmers-insurance-coveragegaps
Appendix D
Liberty Mutual Insurance Makes You Wonder https://www.libertymutual.com/insurancecontent/media/video/commercials/anthem-commercial/anthem-hero.mp4?v=2015110709231278
Appendix E
Nationwide Insurance Life Comes at You Fast https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Vl_urz7GYoY
Appendix F
Esurance Rate Suckers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_yezl1U39g
Appendix G
Geico Everybody Knows That https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq9ap6JuXuc
Appendix H
Esurance Beatrice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5fn087Jk4I
Appendix I
State Farm Insurance Grandmas Help https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlAA1iBqUPI
Appendix J
Travelers Insurance Dog and Bone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk2B8988ws0
Appendix K
Commercials | Liberty Mutual. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.libertymutual.com/commercials

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Appendix L
Liberty Mutual Insurance Liberty Mutual Insurance Presents American Stories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyj_Xz7sPzs
Appendix M
Liberty Mutual Insurance Deductible Fund https://www.libertymutual.com/insurancecontent/media/video/commercials/clockwork-commercial/Clockwork.mp4?
v=2015110709480984
Appendix N
Liberty Mutual Insurance Accident Forgiveness Poster Child
https://www.libertymutual.com/insurance-content/media/video/commercials/accidentforgiveness-commercial/PosterChild.mp4?v=2015110710274451
Appendix O
Liberty Mutual Insurance Better Car Replacement https://www.libertymutual.com/insurancecontent/media/video/commercials/drtv-brad/drtv-brad.mp4?v=2015110710351211
Appendix P
Liberty Mutual Insurance Blindsided https://www.libertymutual.com/insurancecontent/media/video/commercials/blindsided-commercial/Blindsided.mp4?
v=2015110710382844
Appendix Q
Liberty Mutual Insurance New Car Totaled https://www.libertymutual.com/insurancecontent/media/video/commercials/34car-commercial/34Car.mp4?v=2015110710490221