Exploring Narrative Structure and Hero Enactment in Brand Stories

Abstract

This study examines how audiovisual brand stories both invite and enable consumers to enact heroic archetypes. Integrating research on the archetypal structure of narratives with research on the event structure of narratives, we distinguish singular plot stories (i.e., stories that show a Hero’s Journey) from embedded plot stories (i.e., stories that not only show but also tell one or more Hero’s Journeys) and develop a conceptual and narratological framework to analyze their structural elements. Application of the framework to 20 brand stories representing 8 different brands reveals meaningful variation in elements between the singular plot stories and embedded plot stories. Differences in the expression of archetypes and event structure are argued to evoke different types of Hero enactment which in turn result in different outcomes. We specifically hypothesize that the enactment of heroic archetypes in singular plot stories primarily results in catharsis (pleasure), whereas the enactment of heroic archetypes in embedded plot stories primarily results in an outcome we describe as phronesis: a form of moral sense making of the self that advances one’s practical wisdom and prudence. The final section of the paper discusses how cathartic and phronetic outcomes of hero enactment may foster the psychological bonding between brand and consumer, and invite consumers to align their moral values with the values that are reflected by heroic character traits. The central aims of the analysis presented are to provide an exploration of narrative phenomena in a reasonably broad range of brand story videos and foremost to provide a conceptual framework with an applicable instrument suited to analyze relevant categories in these brand stories. The present study is interdisciplinary in its approach to a contemporary, developing marketing phenomenon, applying psychological modeling of archetypes and heroic values with narratological insights on perspective-taking and story structure. Its contribution is to systemize, from a narratological viewpoint, how various narrative archetypes in brand video stories may contribute to the development of brand-consumer relations.

A Cinderella Story: How Past Identity Salience Boosts Demand for Repurposed Products

“…The marketing literature has been well aware of stories’ ability to fuel demand (Van Laer et al 2014; Wang et al 2019; Woodside, Sood, and Miller 2008), and storytelling is a common marketing practice (Sanders and Van Krieken 2018; Van Laer, Feiereisen, and Visconti 2019). Marketers tell brand stories (Sanders and Van Krieken 2018) and stories in which products affect consumers (Lien and Chen 2013; Wang et al 2019), and artists tell stories that feature products or brands as contextual elements or accessories, as in the case of product placement (Kamleitner and Khair Jyote 2013; Russell 2002). In most of these stories, the product is not the main protagonist, and all of them are clearly recognizable as fully fledged stories that someone tells.…”

“…The present research offers important contributions to the storytelling literature in marketing. First, we show that marketers can utilize products’ own biographical stories rather than craft stories around product use or brand values, which dominate existing practices (Adaval and Wyer 1998; Escalas 1998; Sanders and Van Krieken 2018; Van Laer et al 2014). Second, and in line with the story-prone nature of the human mind (Boyd 2009; Bruner 1990), we show that storytelling does not require explicit detail.…”

Being Conscious of One’s Own Heroism: An Empirical Approach to Analyzing the Leadership Potential of Future CEOs

“…The stronger presence of these basic contents encourages reflection about the need to make other contents visible that can be present in one’s image of heroism; for example, by being aware of the transformations that can take place or the distractors that can appear while carrying out the mission itself. Additionally, another element that can help to make our inner hero / heroine visible is the incorporation of the archetypal images as energizers of our psyche (as in studies like those by Sanders and van Krieken, 2018), as well as the epistemic and the energizing functions that the hero stories fulfill (Allison and Goethals, 2014).…”

“…From the contemplation of some fragment that is significant to the person, a sudden awareness can occur about a psychic content that had previously been ignored. This awareness can be observed through the analysis of stories: both in stories that have transcended to different periods (von Franz, 1980, 1995, 1997), as well as in current narratives about heroism that mobilize psychic processes in those who read them (Sanders and van Krieken, 2018). This psychic movement can be explained by the two functions that the hero stories fulfill (Allison and Goethals, 2014, p. 170): the epistemic function (“the knowledge and wisdom that hero stories impart to us”) and the energizing function (“the ways that hero stories inspire us and promote personal growth”).…”

Smoothly moving through Mental Spaces: Linguistic patterns of viewpoint transfer in news narratives

“…The three main spaces collaboratively fulfil the communicative functions of news narratives: the Reality Space represents narrative information that informs the reader about the current state of affairs; the News Narrative Space represents the reconstruction of events and situations that engages the reader; and the Intermediate Space convinces the reader about the truthfulness of the narrative reconstruction, for quoting from communicative events legitimizes the narrative reconstruction of the newsworthy events in two ways. First, such quotes demonstrate the truthfulness of the narrative reconstruction and, second, their dramatic effect underscores the narrative's tellability (Sanders andVan Krieken 2018, Sanders andVan Krieken 2019; for demonstrative function see Clark and Gerrig 1990, for tellability see Labov and Waletzky 1967). Figure 1 also depicts that, together, the News Narrative Space and the Intermediate Space represent the actual "Narrative Space" in the news narrative; representing the news events requires readers to project their deictic center (depicted by a visor) along with the news character's viewpoint through narrative time and continuously shift it along with the alternating salience of the different mental spaces (Sanders and Van Krieken 2019).…”