A story to sell: The influence of storytelling on consumers' purchasing behavior

Abstract

Storytelling can arouse consumers' emotions and affect purchasing behavior through desires and attitudes. While the marketing literature discusses storytelling, there is a lack of consensus because of the diverse conceptual and operational definitions used. To untangle the complexities and consolidate the fragmented knowledge about storytelling in marketing, this research examines how the marketing literature has addressed the influence of storytelling on consumers' purchasing behavior. The findings aid in understanding how the topic has been discussed from a marketing perspective in consumer behavior studies. Through a systematic literature review using a bibliometric analysis, we demonstrate that the marketing literature features four strands about the uses of storytelling to influence consumers' purchasing behavior. First, storytelling stimulates the consumer's identification with the brand. Second, storytelling allows consumers to experience emotional value. Third, storytelling supports engagement behaviors. Finally, storytelling has a downside in that it also propagates harmful speech. This study concludes with a roadmap for future research about how storytelling impacts consumers' purchasing behavior.

Do stories (always) make food products taste better? The boundary effects of matching package type and product dimension

“…The show that storytelling and subsequent increased narrative transportation help enhance (1) the actual taste of wine when the package of the food or beverage is considered a good match and (2) the expected taste of milk-based products when the product is utilitarian (vs. hedonic). These results have implications for the growing body of literature on sensory marketing-and especially on taste perception (Elder & Krishna, 2010;Gomez & Spielmann, 2019;Hoegg & Alba, 2007;Jaud & Melnyk, 2020)-and storytelling (Dessart, 2018;Dessart & Pitardi, 2019;Júnior et al, 2023;Van Laer et al, 2014) by identifying two conditions (i.e., package type and product dimension) under which narrative transportation (induced by storytelling) enhances taste. The first condition refers to matching package type, which indicates that for storytelling and narrative transportation to enhance actual taste, no discrepancy between the package type and the food or beverage should exist.…”

“…Products are portals through which consumers can become part of a story. As such, these stories, rather than the products themselves, are the driving forces in swaying consumer behavior (Hjelmgren, 2016; Júnior et al, 2023). Storytelling makes messages more memorable and effective (Bower & Clark, 1969; Graesser et al, 1980) and has become a cornerstone of marketing.…”

“…Storytelling makes messages more memorable and effective (Bower & Clark, 1969; Graesser et al, 1980) and has become a cornerstone of marketing. Research has uncovered that storytelling enhances consumer engagement (Dessart & Pitardi, 2019; Júnior et al, 2023), brand perceptions (Pfannes et al, 2021), and product or service evaluations (Adaval & Wyer, 1998; Dessart, 2018). The power of storytelling is so strong that even Michelin‐starred chefs use stories to bring the dining experience to the next level (Tan, 2019).…”

“…By identifying the boundary roles of (1) matching package type and (2) product dimension, this research makes three contributions. First, we contribute to the growing literature on storytelling (Dessart, 2018; Dessart & Pitardi, 2019; Júnior et al, 2023) and narrative transportation (Green & Brock, 2000; Van Laer et al, 2014; Van Laer, Edson Escalas, et al, 2019; Van Laer, Feiereisen, & Visconti, 2019) by investigating why and when storytelling enhances both actual and expected taste. Second, we contribute to the literature on sensory marketing (Elder & Krishna, 2010; Gomez & Spielmann, 2019; Hoegg & Alba, 2007; Jaud & Melnyk, 2020) by being the first research to examine the effects of storytelling and narrative transportation on (actual) taste.…”

“…By identifying the boundary roles of (1) matching package type and (2) product dimension, this research makes three contributions. First, we contribute to the growing literature on storytelling (Dessart, 2018;Dessart & Pitardi, 2019;Júnior et al, 2023) and narrative transportation (Green & Brock, 2000;Van Laer et al, 2014;Van Laer, Edson Escalas, et al, 2019;Van Laer, Feiereisen, & Visconti, 2019) by investigating why and when storytelling enhances both actual and expected taste.…”