There's a LIMRA study that provides insight into the role of emotional marketing in the life insurance market. 

Although life insurance is a commonly purchased and understood product, it has very little “I want it” appeal compared with most consumer goods. We might say, “I want an iPad,” or “I want that new car,” but I rarely hear “I want life insurance.”  

It's often said that “insurance is an intangible product” as an excuse for this lack of consumer interest. This leads to the “life insurance is not bought, it is sold” concept. But songs on iTunes and books for e-readers are intangibles that lots of people want. Why not life insurance?

“Life insurance is the only tool that takes pennies and turns them into dollars.” This type of statement is often used as a closing phrase to sell the unique benefit of life insurance. But when LIMRA focus groups considered this phrase alongside others, it was found to be of little value because it's entirely aimed at the left brain, where we make logical decisions. 

The trouble is logic often doesn't drive purchasing decisions, which are more often based on emotions. So statements like, “what amount of life insurance would you want for your family if you didn't make it home tonight?”—while not as pithy as “turning pennies into dollars”—are more effective. They work on the right brain, the emotional center and then feed back positive signals that have more impact on purchasing.

To a certain extent, when using emotional connections in enrollment, we need to think like the person selling cars, who emphasizes performance to me and safety to my wife.

Discuss things in a way that evokes positive emotions like caring, security and trust. It's better to say “the disability income benefit this plan provides will let you keep your lifestyle if you can't work,” than “this disability plan provides you with 60 percent of pay if you become disabled.”