Article

Short brand stories on packaging: An examination of consumer responses

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Abstract

The persuasiveness of stories and their influence on consumers have been acknowledged in marketing, particularly within the advertising field. In marketing practice, brand stories are increasingly also appearing on product packages. However, packages differ from ads in significant ways as communication channels; for example, the space for messages on a package is limited by the size of the package. This study reports findings from two experiments comparing consumer responses to fast-moving consumer good (FMCG) packages with and without short brand stories. The findings show that even a short brand story included on FMCG packaging has a positive impact on consumers’ affective, attitudinal, product value, and behavioral intention responses to the brand.

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... The papers used to evaluate informativeness were adjusted by Lee and Hong [40]. The evaluation of narrative transportation was measured through 4 items from Solja's research [41]. The items used for advertising stimulation were developed by four items of Solja [41]. ...
... The evaluation of narrative transportation was measured through 4 items from Solja's research [41]. The items used for advertising stimulation were developed by four items of Solja [41]. The measurement items used for brand engagement were adjusted from Santos, Santo, and Ferreira's research [42,43]. ...
... In the second stage, this methodology seeks to analyse the causal relationships between the variables, as suggested in the literature [40]. The PLS-SEM algorithm was run on SMART PLS v3.3.4 software [41]. ...
Chapter
Advertising has evolved over the decades. Knowing consumers are increasingly avoiding advertisements, creating campaigns that attract attention and stay in memory is essential. Advertisers’ main goal is to get closer to consumers, generating visibility, attractiveness, and engagement with the brand. Furthermore, this topic has aroused the academy's interest, and studies show the importance of advertising and its connection with brand engagement. Thus, this study (n = 244) was carried out through a research model, tested through the PLS-SEM methodology, which showed that informativeness, narrative structure and narrative transportation have effects on brand engagement and advertising stimulation play a mediating role in this relationship. Therefore, it is suggested that brands create video ads with information and relevant structures to attract consumers that consider themselves part of these ads.
... Moreover, extant work mostly advocates financial proxies of ICO success (e.g. investment amount), ignoring insights from the marketing literature that stresses the reputational benefits that issuers can reap from storytelling modes (i. e. sharing stories with consumers) in terms of higher recommendation intentions and higher chances for virality of new products (Solja et al., 2018;Van Laer et al., 2019). ...
... emplotment) and communication style of the story (White et al., 2011); consumers' identification with the main story character (Dessart, 2018); different types of story narratives (e.g. underdog vs top dog); the objectives and the origin of the brand (Megehee & Spake, 2012); and, the source of the story, among others (Solja et al., 2018). ...
... To date, scarce, if any, studies explore the persuasiveness of different storytelling modes in pre-launch communication activities or their impact on consumer evaluations during ICOs (Chitsazan et al., 2022). Despite that the advertising literature points towards various contextual factors that shape the effectiveness of storytelling campaigns, such as the type of the endorser and the framing of the message, no empirical evidence exists on whether such factors affect brand communication in an ICO context (Solja et al., 2018;Chod & Lyandres, 2021). appeals) (Yoo & Macinnis, 2005). ...
Article
Given the scarce insights around the effectiveness of different brand communication strategies in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), this work, through four experimental studies, investigates the role of storytelling in affecting consumer responses to ICOs. Drawing on Elaboration Likelihood Model, study 1 uncovers the differential effect of two storytelling modes (i.e. factual vs emotional) on consumers’ amount of investment and online brand advocacy in ICOs. Study 2 examines the moderating effect of endorser expertise (i.e. high vs low) on consumer responses to ICOs. Study 3 investigates the framing of the storytelling message (i.e. loss- vs gain-framed) whereas study 4 explores whether the cryptocurrency purpose (i.e. altruistic vs profit-oriented) affects consumer responses to ICOs. Our findings uncover the differential benefits (e.g. financial vs reputational) that storytelling modes bestow to consumers and provide directions on how issuers should strategize their brand communication during ICOs.
... Stories are known to be powerful tools for marketers (Adaval and Wyer, 1998;Solja et al., 2018;van Laer et al., 2014;Woodside, 2008), but the storytelling literature has focused heavily on brand stories, particularly brand heritage stories, which use the brand's history to express the brand's values to customers (Urde et al., 2007). PPAs differ from other types of brand stories because they are only loosely tied to the product's history or usage. ...
... Given the power of stories, it is not surprising that there is a wealth of marketing research on them. Much of this research looks at brand stories or company-designed stories about the brand that have a plot, actors, causality and temporality (Solja et al., 2018). Brand stories are used regularly in marketing, appearing in packaging (Solja et al., 2018), advertisements (Dessart, 2018;Escalas and Stern, 2003); and salesperson communications (Gilliam and Zablah, 2013). ...
... Much of this research looks at brand stories or company-designed stories about the brand that have a plot, actors, causality and temporality (Solja et al., 2018). Brand stories are used regularly in marketing, appearing in packaging (Solja et al., 2018), advertisements (Dessart, 2018;Escalas and Stern, 2003); and salesperson communications (Gilliam and Zablah, 2013). Brand stories can differentiate competing offerings (Mitchell and Clark, 2021), communicate brand personality (Aaker, 1997) and attract attention at the point of purchase (Pham, 2018). ...
Article
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new strategic marketing tool: a peripheral product anecdote (PPA), or a brief, interesting story that is loosely connected to a product but not connected to its history, quality or usage. A PPA is contrasted with similar tools, such as product/brand heritage claims. This study investigates when PPAs are most effective at increasing willingness to pay. Design/methodology/approach Five experiments examine the effect of different PPAs on willingness to pay. This study examines product-use situation as a moderator (Studies 3 and 4) and conversational value as a mediator (Studies 2 and 4). Findings Customers will pay a premium for products with PPAs, but only when they intend to use the products in social situations where they could share the anecdote with others. Mediation analyses reveal these anecdotes are valuable because they provide purchasers with a conversation topic (a source of social currency). Practical implications In contrast to brand heritage stories, nearly any firm can associate a PPA with their product. These anecdotes are a low-cost way for firms to increase willingness to pay for products. PPAs are innovative and varied, unlike brand heritage stories which tend to be static. Originality/value This paper shows that customers sometimes want packaged goods, such as beer and snacks, to help them have conversations and will pay more for products that do so. It introduces the PPA as one way marketers can help customers achieve this goal of conversation.
... Through storytelling, residents construe different facets of the place's identity (Lichrou et al., 2014). The ability of stories to create brand awareness and convey the uniqueness of a brand (Solja et al., 2018) has encouraged more destination marketers to utilize storytelling to connect to their audience in a more emotional and memorable way (Olsson et al., 2016). However, storytelling in destination branding has predominantly focused on marketercreated stories (Youssef et al., 2018), and more recently, tourist-or user-generated stories (e.g. ...
... The application and effects of storytelling have been acknowledged in marketing, where stories about products and/or services have been used to generate brand awareness (e.g. Koll et al., 2010) and influence consumer buying behavior (Solja et al., 2018). Stories have the power to affect consumer's attitudes and behavior through the process of narrative transportation (van Laer et al., 2014). ...
... In advertising, executing messages through storytelling has been shown to create stronger connections with consumers because, in contrast to explicitly persuasive messages, storytelling is affective and is processed in a narrative way that is better evaluated and remembered (Escalas, 2004;Woodside et al., 2008). For that reason, marketers and branding practitioners have turned to stories and storytelling as a creative and persuasive means of reaching their intended consumers and driving market change (Solja et al., 2018;van Laer et al., 2014). ...
Article
Concerns have been raised that destination branding often overlooks the destination's internal stakeholders, and in some cases, has resulted in a brand identity that does not reflect the meanings and emotions that residents attach to places. Consequently, scholars have advocated for a more participatory approach to destination branding in which residents’ sense of place can be acknowledged, represented, and operationalized. This paper synthesizes these arguments and demonstrates that such an approach can be achieved by embracing residents’ place stories. Through storytelling, residents construe different facets of the place identity that is the foundation of destination brand identity. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role, constituents, and effects of storytelling in destination branding, particularly exploring whose stories should be told and how these stories should be conveyed. In doing so, a participatory approach to destination branding is presented that employs residents’ place stories as a genuine form of participation in the destination branding process. Lastly, an agenda for future research is proposed, and practical implications for destination marketing practice are discussed.
... Consumers share stories with each other, and by doing so they understand themselves and others via imagination or shared experiences (Nehaniv, 1999;Escalas, 2004;Sax, 2006;Granitz and Forman, 2015). As consumers construct stories in relation to brands that reflect their experiences with the brands, it is not surprising that storytelling could be an effective marketing tool for branding (Woodside, 2010;Gensler et al., 2013;Granitz and Forman, 2015;Solja et al., 2018;Kao, 2019). ...
... Brand storytelling refers to the art of creating a compelling story about a brand that creates emotional connections between the brand and consumers (Granitz and Forman, 2015;Lundqvist et al., 2013). It includes actors, plots, causality and chronology of the events related to the brand (Delgadillo and Escalas, 2004;Escalas, 2004;Solja et al., 2018). Brand storytelling can be created by a firm or consumer, and they have a different influence on brand attitude. ...
... Current research differentiates between a firmgenerated brand story (i.e. a brand story) and brand storytelling by a consumer. A brand story is designed and delivered to consumers in a controlled manner by a firm (Solja et al., 2018). It can be developed from stories in the workplace, employees, the company's foundation story, stories about the CEO, the example, consumers tend to be motivated to share the story and perceive the brands positively when they realize that the story is generated by other consumers' real experiences (Kang and Schuett, 2013;Berger, 2014;Pera and Viglia, 2016;Lund et al., 2019). ...
Article
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Purpose Brand storytelling has been found to be an effective marketing tool. Unlike a brand story that originates from a firm, consumers’ brand storytelling is created, developed and shared by consumers. This research aims to examine whether consumers’ brand storytelling leads to increased favorable brand evaluations and compares its effects on consumer cognition and emotions, to a brand story generated by a firm. Design/methodology/approach Three experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses. In Study 1, a 2 (story: consumers’ brand storytelling vs brand story by a firm) × 2 (product: coffee shop vs airline mileage programs) between-subjects design was used. Studies 2 and 3 replicated Study 1 and investigated different measurements of the constructs using different brands. Additionally, a mediation analysis was conducted. Findings The results show that consumers’ brand storytelling increases favorable brand attitudes. Consumers present deeper cognitive processing and higher experienced positive emotions when they read consumer brand storytelling as compared to a firm-created brand story, leading to a more favorable brand attitude. Originality/value There is a lack of empirical research investigating how consumers’ brand storytelling is different from brand stories created by firms, and how consumers’ brand storytelling influences brand attitudes. This study extends the literature by clarifying how consumers respond to consumers’ brand storytelling and evaluates brands by exploring the underlying mechanism for the effect of brand storytelling via consumers’ cognitions and emotions.
... In fact, many studies have demonstrated the impact of brand storytelling on consumer purchase intentions and brand attitudes (Avery et al., 2010;Lundqvist et al., 2013). Solja et al. (2018) found that consumers' attitudes, emotions, behavioural intentions, brand values and brand attitudes were more positive when a brand story was printed on the product packaging as compared to products with no brand story on the packaging. However, brand storytelling is still a brand new attempt in the marketing of agricultural products. ...
... Stern, 2003;Van Laer et al., 2014;Kim et al., 2015;Pera & Viglia, 2016;Ryu et al., 2019;Lund et al., 2020). Solja et al. (2018) found that when a brand story is printed on the product packaging, it has a positive impact on consumer attitudes, emotions, behavioural intentions, brand values and brand responses compared to products without a brand story on the packaging. Also, the results of Experiment 1 showed that participants who read brand stories had higher levels of narrative transmission and lower levels of critical thinking. ...
Article
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Brand storytelling, as an important communication method for conveying and shaping brand perception and brand image, has been applied more and more widely in recent years in corporate marketing and management, among other aspects. This study investigates the effect of brand stories of agricultural products on consumers’ purchase intention, and also examines the conditions under which they are applicable. Through three experiments, this study found that brand stories increase consumers’ willingness to buy agricultural products, and the sales method plays a moderating role in this. Emotional stories increase consumers’ purchase intention when the sales method is individual sales, and experiential stories increase consumers’ purchase intention when the sales method is chain store sales. The findings of this study enrich the branding theory and are of great significance in shaping the brand image of agricultural products.
... The selection of the appropriate information to present with food labels is an important decision, as product packaging often represents the first contact between the consumer and the product and is a key source of information which consumers use in product evaluation and judgment (Greenleaf & Raghubir, 2008;Gupta & Rominger, 1996). Nevertheless, despite being a powerful communication tool (Underwood, 2003), a package offers a limited display space, is often filled with information required by law (Solja et al., 2018), and can thus rapidly look crowded, especially on the front, which needs to display important and mandatory information (e.g., product identity, product net quantity, brand name). In addition, consumers' limited capacity to process information (Jacoby, 1984) calls for a more efficient selection of marketing information to display on organic food front-of-packages. ...
... For instance, to earn the right to allege that their product is organic, Canadian food producers and manufacturers must follow strict regulations surrounding the certification process, while such specifications do not surround the formulation of claims on food packaging . It is unknown whether organic certifications are always presented on the front-of-package, if claims and certifications are used in a complementary (i.e., both informational elements are displayed) or substitutable manner (i.e., one informational element or the other is displayed) in the organic food industry, and what other market positioning-related food labels are used, especially in the current context of package space scarcity (Solja et al., 2018) and consumer information overload (Jacoby, 1984). Using a quantitative content analysis of organic food front-of-packages, this paper aims at investigating the current practices of the Canadian organic food industry, in terms of the use of claims and certifications to communicate with consumers, and its underlying patterns. ...
... although the self-brand connection has been categorised under consumer based elements, Delgado-Ballester (2020) and 2 others stated that this variable is also an outcome of consumers being exposed to storytelling. additionally, several other positive outcomes have been highlighted, such as brand love (Dias & cavalheiro, 2022(Dias & cavalheiro, ), brand perception (lundqvist et al., 2013Pfannes et al., 2021), memorability and recall (Ma et al., 2023;Brechman & Purvis, 2015), brand experience (Bansal et al., 2023), brand loyalty (Yang & kang, 2021), brand differentiation (Mitchell & clark, 2021) (Solja et al., 2018), enjoyment and credibility (kim et al., 2017), and increased persuasion (gilliam & Flaherty, 2015). it's evident that storytelling yields numerous positive outcomes for both the brand and the consumer, making it a win-win strategy to employ. ...
... For instance, coker et al. (2021) andQuesenberry and coolsen (2019) noted that narrative ads positively influence intentions to view, share and promote. Furthermore kang et al.(2020), grębosz-krawczyk (2020) andSolja et al. (2018) emphasized that storytelling influences consumers to spread positive word of mouth. ...
Article
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In the landscape of strategic branding, storytelling has persisted as a dominant approach since its emergence in the 1940s. Remarkably, even in the year 2024, brands continue to leverage this narrative strategy in their positioning and this elucidates the potential of this strategy. However, despite its evident efficacy, there is a notable scarcity of review papers in this domain, and hence this paper aims to study existing knowledge of storytelling in terms of its contribution to marketing. The core objective of this paper is to review and propose a future agenda for storytelling from a marketing perspective. Through a framework-based systematic review, this paper organizes and retrospectively analyses the antecedents, decisions, and outcomes (ADO) of storytelling within the realms of marketing. Furthermore, the paper also presents a concise summary of the theories, contexts, and methods (TCM) employed to understand storytelling and concludes with a constructive discussion on the existing knowledge gaps and how they could be addressed through pertinent ideas for future marketing research on storytelling.
... Accordingly, gamified brand storytelling is expected to boost the responses that the story itself pursues (Solja et al., 2018). These improvements in user responses are the result of improvements in brand experience (Chevtchouk et al., 2021). ...
... Transportation stories bring users into a positive state that affects cognitive response, beliefs, attitudes and intentions (Van Laer et al., 2019). Narrative transportation has been explored extensively in storytelling in areas such as consumer engagement (Dessart and Pitardi, 2019;Kaczorowska et al., 2023), storytelling ads (Dessart, 2018;Feng, 2018;Van Laer et al., 2014) or attitudes towards the brand (Escalas, 2004;Solja et al., 2018). ...
Article
Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of gamifying brand storytelling on user immersion in the brand narrative, a concept referred to as “narrative transportation”. The aim is to comprehend how transportation influences users’ experience and their responses to the brand, with particular focus on brand attitude and WOM. The study also explores the role of interactivity in brand storytelling and its effects on transportation and user engagement. Design/methodology/approach Four experiments were conducted to sequentially test the proposed hypotheses. Each experiment involves ad hoc gamified brand stories for different product categories (wine, museum, glasses and frozen fruit). Findings Findings indicate that including gamification elements in brand stories heightens narrative transportation and enhances the information obtained by users as well as their entertainment. Users thus respond more positively to the brand in terms of attitude and WOM. The study also reveals that high levels of interactivity in the game may actually decrease narrative transportation in the story, although this is offset by the perception of greater entertainment. Originality/value This research contributes to current understanding of brand storytelling and its impact on branding. It highlights the importance of offering users a gamified experience that can provide them with information about the brand whilst also offering them entertainment. The results also hold implications for gamification literature by emphasizing the need to ensure a balance between game and story vis-à-vis enhancing the impact of gamified storytelling on brand response.
... Resonance is a reflection of collective memory and group emotions [32], and a spiritual need for people to seek sense of collective existence [33,34]. Keller believed resonance is process from mental to behavior [35]. ...
... When watching narrative advertisements, consumers can perceive the similarity between themselves and the advertising characters, and produce emotional resonance. This emotional resonance experience generated by the similarity can further improve consumers' purchase intention [32]. Meanwhile, the consumers who watches live streaming and interact frequently, will feel strong belonging, which causes the subtle emotional resonance between the audience and internet celebrity and arouse the audience's inner self, make them completely immersed in live streaming. ...
Article
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Emotional factors play a crucial role in streaming live marketing of agricultural products. Some literature explored several emotional factors’ impact on consumers’ purchase intention. Nonetheless, the interaction and integration effects of these factors have received less attention. Based on Consumer Engagement Theory, SOR model and TAM model, the paper constructs a moderated mediation model of the interactivity/presence, trust/resonance and purchase intention under rural sentiment. A quantitative study based on 365 valid samples is conducted to validate this model. The results indicate that interactivity and presence positively impact on consumers’ purchase intention, trust and resonance play a mediating role between interactivity/presence and purchase intention separately. Contrary to our expectations, rural sentiment negatively moderates the relationship between interactivity and resonance. Differences of regression results between urban and rural group indicate that the cultural backgrounds of consumers have an impact on their emotional responses in live streaming of agricultural products. The results illustrate the mechanism of emotional factors in consumers’ purchase decisions. Overall, this paper reveals the potential of emotional factors and the development of effective marketing strategies to improve agricultural products sales.
... At the communication level, many scholars have confirmed the impact of brand storytelling on consumers' perception of authenticity. For example, Solja (2018) suggested that cues and communication methods can both influence consumers' perception of authenticity [20]. Fukuda (2018) demonstrated that both strong and weak brand stories can affect consumers' perception of authenticity [21]. ...
... At the communication level, many scholars have confirmed the impact of brand storytelling on consumers' perception of authenticity. For example, Solja (2018) suggested that cues and communication methods can both influence consumers' perception of authenticity [20]. Fukuda (2018) demonstrated that both strong and weak brand stories can affect consumers' perception of authenticity [21]. ...
Article
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Against the background of B2C e-commerce platforms, ecological agricultural enterprises often overlook the issues of quality and safety, as well as product image shaping, during their operations, thereby affecting consumers’ purchase decisions. This study adopted authoritative scales and utilized data from 201 questionnaires to empirically investigate the influence of brand images on brand attitudes. Firstly, variables of consumers’ perception and brand attitude were measured through questionnaires. Secondly, regression models were used to discuss the impacts of different brand storytelling themes on brand attitudes. Finally, models of the mediating and moderating effects were employed to empirically study the mechanisms of consumers’ perception and regional familiarity. The research results indicate that brand storytelling themes of ecological agricultural products have a significant positive impact on consumers’ brand attitudes. Consumers’ perception of authenticity plays a mediating role, while regional familiarity acts as a moderator. The research conclusions enrich brand evaluation systems, deepen the related research on brand storytelling themes of agricultural products, reveal the inherent mechanism of the influence of brand storytelling themes of ecological agricultural products on consumers’ brand attitudes, and provide a reference for the practice of regional brand narratives of agricultural products.
... Storytelling is an important and effective marketing tool (Kozinets, 2001;Hong et al., 2021) that enables people to dream and imagine a whole new world (Yueh and Zheng, 2019). It could be an effective marketing tool for branding (Gensler et al., 2013;Granitz and Forman, 2015;Solja et al., 2018;Kao, 2019). ...
... Storytelling has become an important component in persuading a broad audience (Manning and Bejarano, 2017). It has a positive impact on consumers' brand emotions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions (Solja et al., 2018). One of the reasons storytelling can affect people is stories' ability to evoke people's emotions (Escalas, 2004) and make customers feel more engaged (Robiady et al., 2021), causing consumers to experience pleasure and happiness (Li et al., 2017;Lim and Childs, 2020). ...
Article
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The design of an effective brand story has become a key issue in marketing strategies. This study aims to explore what kinds of brand stories (underdog or top dog) individuals prefer from the perspective of the level of self-construal and the need for uniqueness. In this study, a questionnaire survey was used to collect data from China. One-way analysis of variance and bootstrapping via the Process plug-in were adopted to test the hypotheses. This study confirms that individuals with independent self-construal have a higher need for uniqueness and prefer underdog brand stories, while individuals with interdependent self-construal have a lower need for uniqueness and prefer the top dog brand story. This paper promotes theoretical research in the fields of self-construal, the need for uniqueness, and brand stories, and provides rich theoretical support for enterprises in designing and adjusting brand stories. Implications, limitations and future studies are discussed.
... Brand storytelling is the umbrella term used to describe company-designed stories that brands tell to engage consumers with their history, values, and personality employing different plot structures, temporal techniques, and story elements (characters, location, action, twist, message) (Mills, 2023;Solja et al., 2018). The concept of brand narrative is also often used in the literature to emphasise the intentionally driven telling of sequential events with a clear purpose and message (Escalas, 2004;Padgett & Allen, 1997). ...
Article
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The paper explores the role of marketing stories in cultivating virtue ethics in consumers. Drawing from the philosophy and storytelling tradition of the Aristotelian tragedy along with Kierkegaard’s Either/Or and Castoriadis’ insights, it is illustrated that tragic stories can be a valuable creative resource for marketing professionals who wish to promote virtue ethics in the marketplace. To achieve this, the paper: a) illuminates the value of virtue-oriented stories in marketing; b) critically examines the value of existing brand stories; c) proposes an alternative brand storytelling orientation, based on the tradition of tragedy, which fosters virtue ethics; d) offers a framework and guidelines to brand executives who want to craft tragic brand stories.
... Also, a positive and significant relationship was observed between brand love, loyalty, and word-ofmouth advertising. In another study, Solja et al. (2018) examined consumer reactions using the impact of stories that appeared in the packaging of goods and the interestingness of stories and their impact on consumers in particular was approved in the field of word-of-mouth propaganda. The research findings showed that even a short story of the brand on the packaging of the product has a positive effect on the emotional value, attitude, value of the product, and the tendency to purchase behavior. ...
... Blank-leaving differs from ellipsis or omission, as it involves the intentional absence of certain story contents, which itself constitutes a narrative (Xie and Kim, 2017). It is the void and absence of text but the presence and plurality of story events (Pracejus et al., 2006;Solja et al., 2018). By leaving some aspects of the story untold, the narrator attracts readers' attention and invites them to engage in filling in the narrative gaps. ...
Article
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Purpose Brand storytelling is an effective marketing tool. However, when choosing whether to tell more or tell less, it remains unclear which of these two narrative styles is most effective. This study aims to examine whether blank-leaving(less) leads to favourable brand attitudes and compares its effects on consumers’ story immersion, to non-blank-leaving(more). Design/methodology/approach Two experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses. In Study 1, a single-factorial design was used with 252 participants assigned at random to one of two narrative conditions: blank-leaving or non-blank-leaving. Study 2 replicated Study 1 and investigated the moderating role of implicit mindsets. Findings The results show that a blank-leaving narrative style increases favourable brand attitudes. Consumers present deeper immersion in the brand story that uses blank-leaving, as compared to non-blank-leaving, leading to a more favourable brand attitude. Furthermore, this effect is stronger for individuals with growth mindsets. Practical implications Telling the brand story using a blank-leaving narrative style is more effective in catching consumers’ attention than non-blank-leaving. In particular, a blank-leaving narrative is a good approach for targeting consumers who have a growth mindset. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to investigate and compare the effects of blank-leaving and non-blank-leaving narrative styles on brand attitudes in the context of storytelling marketing.
... Conveying the information, benefits, and identity of a product helps shape consumers' expectations and perceptions (Rebollar et al., 2017). Additionally, such messages can present a coherent and persuasive narrative about the product, resulting in a favorable image in consumers' minds (Gómez-Chova et al., 2015;Solja et al., 2018). Furthermore, emphasizing a product's unique characteristics, claims, or benefits in a packaging message helps differentiate a product from other products in the line and creates competitive products (Hidalgo-Baz et al., 2017). ...
Article
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The visual and textual elements of packaging significantly impact consumer product evaluations. This study examines how unconventional packaging messages—a textual packaging element—influence impulsive product purchases. We also investigate the mediating role of curiosity and the moderating role of emoji (i.e., a visual packaging element). We conduct five studies to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings reveal that unconventional packaging messages are more effective for impulsive products than for planned purchases. Furthermore, unconventional packaging messages increase both healthy and nonhealthy impulsive product purchases. We find that consumer curiosity explains the enhanced impulsive product purchasing when unconventional packaging messages are used. When unconventional packaging messages are employed for impulsive products, the use of emojis increases customer curiosity. The results extend an understanding of unconventional elements in consumer evaluations of products and inform packaging and marketing strategies regarding how to promote impulsive product purchases in competitive markets.
... On the other hand, certain deep cues of the product can also influence consumers' evaluation of the product's brand status. Solja et al. (2018) confirmed that a short brand story printed on the product's packaging can improve consumers' evaluation of the product and deepen their emotional connection to the brand. ...
Article
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Four behavioral studies and one brain imaging study consistently confirmed that increasing the traditional cultural load of a product can enhance consumers' perceived brand status of the product. Giving products more traditional cultural content can activate consumers' social cognitive brain areas and reward brain areas, and enhance consumers' perceived social value of the product, which in turn affects their perceived brand status evaluation of the product. Product type moderates the effect of traditional cultural load on brand status. The empowering effect of traditional cultural load on brand status is more applicable to utilitarian products, and the effect on the brand status of hedonic products is not significant. This research expands the scope of cultural marketing research and reveals the cognitive neural mechanism of Chinese traditional culture empowerment on brand status. Also, it has important practical implications for the use of Chinese traditional culture in brand status management of utility products.
... Previous research on storytelling has overlooked sensory marketing, focusing on advertising (Dessart, 2018;Dodds et al., 2021;Escalas, 2004a;Kang et al., 2020;Kim et al., 2016;Mattila, 2000), brands (Carnevale et al., 2018;Lundqvist et al., 2013;Pfannes et al., 2021;Woodside et al., 2008), packaging (Jaud & Melnyk, 2020;Solja et al., 2018), digital platforms (Dessart & Pitardi, 2019;Pera & Viglia, 2016;Van Laer & De Ruyter, 2010;Van Laer, Feiereisen, & Visconti, 2019), and new technologies such as virtual reality technology (De Regt et al., 2021). Therefore, except for Gilliam and Flaherty (2015) and Gilliam and Zablah (2013), who have peeled back some of the layers surrounding the use of storytelling in the context of interpersonal sales with a focus on how it affects persuasion, very little is known about the effect of storytelling in retail from a sensory marketing perspective. ...
Article
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This research examines when the narrative transportation induced by storytelling influences taste. In a field experiment conducted in two wine stores, we first demonstrate that storytelling enhances actual taste through narrative transportation, but only when the package type matches the product. In the next experiment, we determine that product dimension (hedonic vs. utilitarian) is another boundary condition. We specifically show that the effect of storytelling through narrative transportation on expected taste is positively stronger for utilitarian products than hedonic products. This article contributes to the research on storytelling, narrative transportation, and sensory marketing by showing that storytelling indirectly enhances taste for products with matching packages and utilitarian products. This article also offers important implications for marketers and retailers who aim to enhance the perceived taste of their products.
... In terms of the function of brand stories, Solja et al conducted experiments to demonstrate that the brand stories of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry positively affect consumers' attitudes [11]. In 2015, Granitz and Forman discovered that brand stories could make the interaction of brands and consumers closer, hence improving their attitude towards brands through qualitative interviews [12]. ...
Article
How to expand market share and improve consumers willingness to buy products through effective marketing methods is perplexing the companies in luxury industry since most of them are confronted with tremendous competitive pressure. As a new marketing method in recent years, brand stories are incorporated into marketing strategies by a large number of companies. On this basis, this paper adopts the Stimuli-Organism-Response theoretical model, consumer behavior theory and attribute theory, and investigates whether brand story can promote consumers' purchase intention. Furthermore, it also explores the mediating role of consumers' brand identity and the moderating role of consumers' perceived value. Through empirical analysis, the results show that:(1) brand stories can improve consumers' purchase intention; (2) Brand stories promote consumers' purchase intention by improving their sense of personal brand identity; (3) Customers' perceived functional value play can moderate the influence of brand stories on improving consumers' purchase intention. Based on the empirical analysis results, this paper proposes that the luxury industry should focus on the role of brand stories in marketing, and pay attention to the value that products can bring to consumers. In addition, theoretical and practical significance are also further discussed in this paper.
... De una parte, se considera un concepto único con dos dimensiones, la intención de volver a asistir al acontecimiento y la intención de recomendarlo a otras personas (Cronin, Brady & Hult, 2000). De otra parte, estas dimensiones se consideran dos propósitos de comportamiento separados (Solja, Liljander, & Söderlund, 2018). ...
Article
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El estudio se centra en los fans que acaban de asistir a un gran evento deportivo. Se investigan las relaciones entre emociones, valor transferido del evento al patrocinador oficial, satisfacción, lealtad y respuesta al patrocinio. Una muestra de 364 fans que asisten al Gran Premio Teléfonica de Europa de Fórmula 1 responden a una encuesta a la salida de este evento. Se aplica la técnica de ecuaciones estructurales con el programa estadístico EQS 6.2 para contrastar las relaciones entre las variables del modelo teórico propuesto. Los resultados muestran que se da la trasferencia de valor entre evento y el patrocinador oficial. Dicha transferencia tiene como antecedente las emociones vividas en el evento, y como consecuencias la satisfacción, la lealtad y la respuesta al patrocinio.
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The human experience is what drives everything, notwithstanding the marketing sector's ongoing transformation. Through the use of narrative and visual content, brands can create experiences that touch people's emotions, ignite their imaginations, and leave a lasting impact. Storytelling that is both emotionally engaging and immersive leaves an impression. These strategies permanently modify consumers' perceptions and feelings while also raising engagement and conversion rates. A well-written tale has the ability to inspire, empower, and transform. It might make ordinary interactions with customers delightful, encouraging a sense of loyalty and community among them. Brands who embark on this path not only enhance their marketing tactics but also contribute to a larger narrative about how companies and consumers collaborate to shape the future. The current study investigates the capacity of narrative and visual content to construct timeless and cross-cultural narratives.
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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.
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The public’s perception towards brands varies from one to another. Consumers’ purchasing behaviours keep changing over the years, and people are no longer interested with a one-way flow of communication when it comes to purchasing, or in simpler words, consumers “don't like to be sold”. Brand story is one of the strongest marketing strategies that most of the big companies apply to grow their business as well as to portray a good company image. Studies show that the influence of brand story is powerful in building a positive brand image, for it can empower and motivate the audience, convey purpose, and enhance customers' purchasing experience. The purpose of this paper is to identify the respondents’ perception of brand story, to ascertain their levels of perceived brand image, as well as to examine the relationship between the perception of brand story and perceived brand image. A survey through the use of a questionnaire was carried out, and 384 respondents participated, and the results indicate a significant value on the relationship between the influence of brand story and perceived brand image.
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The story metaphor, which has played an important role in the communication of businesses with their customers, is a source of new inspirations for marketing applications. Businesses that want to establish a strong bond with their customers turn to storytelling in order to express themselves better. When the literature on the subject is examined, it is seen that the elements required to create a brand story are reality, brevity, conflict and humor. Stories that are created can spread rapidly among customers and provide a competitive advantage to businesses. Because when successful brands are examined, it is seen that these brands are businesses that use storytelling effectively and have brand stories. Storytelling, which is increasingly taking place in the field of marketing, has become an element that increases the preference of consumers. It is seen that the existence of the story sought in the product to be purchased further increases the purchase intention of the brand in question. In addition, storytelling, which facilitates communication between businesses and customers, is also the key point of successful branding. In the study, starting from the brand story perspective, it was aimed to determine the effects of the criteria required in a successful story on the participation of the customers in the narrative and the results of the participation in the narrative, based on the advertisements of a brand, and it was investigated which elements of the story affected the participation in the narrative.
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An increasing body of research demonstrates that narrative-based communication can be effective in eliciting attitude change, especially when recipients become transported into the narrative. Using data from a national sample of viewers of Super Bowl XLV (2011) or XLVI (2012), this study addresses whether some people are more disposed to be transported by narrative advertising and how they react to it. Evidence is presented to suggest that people differ in their receptivity to narrative messaging and that these differences are significantly related to advertising effectiveness. Managerial implications of this work are discussed.
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Purpose Drawing on extant literature on narrative persuasion, online advertising, and transportation theory, this research aims to study Internet‐based online narrative advertising and investigate the effects of four pertinent advertising design elements, interactivity, entertainment, vividness, and self‐referencing, on consumer products and the moderating effects of advertisement involvement on these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using an online questionnaire that contained measures adapted from prior studies. Participants first selected a product that they would seriously consider purchasing and answered a set of questions prior to viewing a narrative online advertisement, which was followed by a different set of questions. Structural equation modeling was used to empirically test the authors’ proposed model. Findings Greater levels of interactivity, vividness, entertainment, and self‐referencing in narrative online advertisements led to more favorable attitudes toward a product. In particular, self‐referencing had a substantial effect on transportation in forming product attitudes. Advertisement Involvement moderates (i.e. enhances) the effect of self‐referencing on attitudes toward a product. Practical implications If properly designed, a narrative online advertisement can fully utilize Internet‐enabled features and can maximize their potential to produce a favorable consumer attitude toward a featured product. Originality/value This study advances narrative advertising research and provides empirical evidence to highlight the effects of the pertinent characteristics of Internet‐based advertising, interactivity and entertainment in the conversion process of transportation and consumer attitudes. Moreover, this study identifies and sheds light on important contingencies (i.e. advertisement involvement) of the focal relationships.
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The authors propose that for mature brands, ad-evoked affect will not have a strong influence on brand attitude; they formulate brand interest, a new construct, as a more relevant consequence of ad-evoked affect. They present empirical evidence to support their theory regarding the consequences of ad-evoked affect for mature brands.
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In this paper, an exploratory qualitative study of the communication between packages and consumers found a recurring theme of duplicity in consumers' interpretations of product labelling and packaging. Therefore, a normative framework is proposed to guide the design of effective communication in product packaging. Based on Habermas' theory of communicative competence, the framework suggests that a set of norms (i.e. the norm of truthfulness, the norm of sincerity, the norm of comprehensibility and the norm of legitimacy) can guide the complex task of designing good product packaging. By following these normative guidelines, marketers can both aggressively position their package to attract and promote, while concurrently avoiding package communication that may be construed as duplicitous. The theory provides a useful benchmark against which both public policy makers and manufacturers can evaluate the level of distortion in labelling and packaging. Consumers should benefit in terms of a clearer depiction of the product offering in the market-place. Marketers adopting these guidelines should benefit from a reduction in the level of package-generated consumer cynicism and an increased potential for enhanced long-term customer relationships.
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Some characteristics of story schemata and their role in encoding and retrieval of stories are briefly described. Story schemata are described in terms of the story grammar outlined in Mandler and Johnson (1977). Using the rules of the grammar, canonical two‐episode stories were generated as well as versions whose surface structure violated the posited underlying structure by interleaving the events of the two episodes. Predictions were made concerning the quantity, quality, and temporal sequencing of recall for the standard and interleaved versions. Recall by second‐, fourth‐, sixth‐grade, and adult subjects was studied. Quantity of recall was less for the interleaved stories but more marked differences were found in the quality of recall; many more distortions and repetitions occurred in recall of interleaved stories. The most pronounced effects were found in sequencing of recall. Subjects hearing interleaved stories showed a strong tendency to recall stories in their canonical form rather than in the correct input order. This tendency was more pronounced for children. It was suggested that children are more dependent on familiar schemata for retrieval than are adults.
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Consumers' reactions to rectangles have implications for package and product design. In two lab studies and an analysis of field data, the authors find that the ratio of the sides of a rectangular product or package can influence purchase intentions and preferences and is related to marketplace demand. In more exploratory inquiries, the authors also find that the impact of this ratio on consumers depends on the relative seriousness of the context in which the product is used. Furthermore, ratio can also affect product perceptions, and consumers appear to prefer a range of contiguous ratios for different contexts rather than a particular ratio.
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This chapter explores the nature of stories of self, both as they are told and lived in social life. It examines the story form—or more formally, the structure of narrative accounts. It then describes the way narratives of the self are constructed within social life and the uses to which they are put. As story advances, it become increasingly clear that narratives of the self are not fundamentally possessions of the individual; rather they are products of social interchange—possessions of the socius. This analysis set the stage for a discussion of lived narrative. The chapter proposes the traditional concept of individual selves is fundamentally problematic. What have served as individual traits, mental processes, or personal characteristics can promisingly be viewed as the constituents of relational forms. The form of these relationships is that of the narrative sequence. Thus, by the end of story it can be found that the individual self has all but vanished into the world of relationship.
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About 15 years ago I was teaching a survey course in Romantic poetry, and some student asked why the course was a requirement for graduation. I explained the importance of cultural literacy as a goal of school-based education. To show them how common knowledge worked, I said that at the end of the nineteenth century almost any literate person could fill in the blank in this sentence: “My heart leaps up when I behold a [blank] in the sky.” Who today can fill in that missing blank? My students stared blankly, just as I would have done at their age. Well, I puffed, the missing word is “rainbow,” and it is an important line from Wordsworth, and an important line in English Romanticism, and an important line in Christian …
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This article examines the impact of writing stories on the evaluation of consumption objects. Generating a story creates greater liking for a painting than generating a dialogue about it. The positive impact of stories does not derive from generating more positive thoughts. Instead, stories generate fewer affective thoughts than do dialogues. The importance of generated stories derives from deeper elaboration, providing enhanced recollection of the coherent narrative, ease of generation, and more favorable attitudes toward the task. This work extends prior research on narratives and self referencing by making the consumer an active participant in the generation process, setting a rich agenda for future research.
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Even without official quality standards, food retailers generally do not offer abnormally shaped food based on the assumption that consumers reject food that deviates physically from some norm. Because this practice contributes significantly to food waste, the current study tests this assumption experimentally. A representative sample of 964 Danish consumers indicated their purchase intentions for two fruits and two vegetables with varying levels of food shape abnormality (normal, moderately abnormal, and extremely abnormal) and organic labels (organic label, no label). Food shape abnormalities influence consumers’ purchase intentions, but only if the food deviates extremely from the norm; no differences in purchase intentions emerge for moderately abnormal food. Awareness of food waste issues and proenvironmental self-identities also drive purchase intentions, such that participants with high levels of these traits express significantly higher purchase intentions for abnormally shaped food. Thus, increasing awareness of food waste issues, particularly among those with strong proenvironmental self-identities, might encourage more consumers to purchase abnormally shaped fruits and vegetables.
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Researchers in disciplines such as sociology, psychology, and management have widely recognized the power of stories. Storytelling research in marketing has been limited in its focus on advertising and branding. Less effort has been made to understand the role of stories in personal selling. The current study explores the role that storytelling plays in the exchange between salesperson and buyer. The authors use qualitative inquiry combined with extensive literature search to examine storytelling by salespeople. Ideas from the humanities, psychology, management, and marketing literature are juxtaposed with insights from depth interviews and field observations of 81 buyers and sellers. Based on these insights the authors identify core themes and a model for storytelling in sales, and point to managerial implications of storytelling.
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Building on terror management theory, three experiments tested whether advertisements with a mortality reminder increase purchase intentions for products that provide an (un)important source of self-esteem. Study 1 tested the effects of mortality salience in advertisements (mortality reminder: yes vs. no) for art library and newspaper subscriptions. Study 2 used a 2 (mortality reminder: yes vs. no) × 2 (brand familiarity: low vs. high) between subjects design for newspaper subscriptions. Study 3 used a 2 (mortality reminder: yes vs. no) × 2 (product type: healthy vs. unhealthy) between subjects design for a beverage with importance of the product for consumers’ self-esteem as a continuous moderator. Main dependent measures were mood; death-related thoughts; attitudes toward the ad; and purchase intentions. Across studies advertisements with a death reminder increased unconscious thoughts about death (Experiments 1–3), which, in turn, increased purchase intentions (Experiments 2 and 3). These effects occurred independent of mood, brand familiarity, product type, product relevance to self-esteem, and ad liking. Findings suggest that “killer ads” trigger unconscious consumer fears that may be alleviated by the urge to buy.
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Attempting to move away from commodity‐based products into higher value added ones remains one of the key challenges for research and development (R&D) managers. This paper focuses on developing an understanding of these challenges in the UK packaging industry. The research presents evidence from the case of a single firm, within this process industry, that produces commodity products. The paper contributes to Lager's product degradation–upgrade cycle, which illustrates how functional products degrade into commodities unless product functionalities are continually improved. We characterise the ‘upgrade’ aspect within this model. The paper presents the findings of a 3‐year research project with one of the largest packaging manufacturers in Europe. Five barriers are uncovered that hinder firms attempting to increase the level of product differentiation in order to ‘upgrade’.
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Purpose This paper aims to examine how visual and haptic package design characteristics singularly and jointly affect consumers' brand impressions. Design/methodology/approach Integrating and extending design perception with congruence and fluency theories, the paper presents three research propositions that are tested in three studies. Bottled water serves as an example category with data provided by professionals and consumers. Findings Study 1 identifies key types of holistic bimodal designs (Modern, Big Grip, Prototypical‐Small, Boxy Billboards, and Prototypical‐Large) based on brand visual and haptic factors. Study 2 relates these types to unique single‐modal brand impressions. Study 3 determines how consumers evaluate brands depending on the semantic congruence between haptics and visuals. Except for the excitement dimension, brand evaluations are more positive under conditions of high rather than low congruence. Research limitations/implications The findings are obtained for a single category (bottled water) using experiments designed to highlight and focus consumer attention on the formation of impressions. The findings may thus not fully reflect consumer responses in actual retail purchase situations. Practical implications The paper provides preliminary guidelines on how to utilize visual and haptic cues in the design of brand packages for stimulating desired consumer responses. Originality/value The work presented in this paper contributes to the literature on design‐based brand inferences and semantic congruence by integrating the visual with the haptic perspectives.
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The authors discuss the potential merits of taking a narrative approach to communicating service brand image through advertising. On the assumption that a primary goal of advertising should be to create a vivid image of the brand in consumers' minds, they assess past definitions of brand image and adapt them to the marketing of services. They review metaphors used previously to understand services, and emphasize that the experiential aspect of services should play an important role in how service brand image is conceptualized. Specifically, they suggest that experience is a useful conceptualization for understanding service brand image because it represents the customer's perspective of a service and the symbolic meanings created during service consumption. Using their conceptualization of service as experience, the authors discuss how to view consumers' comprehension of services, and thus how to communicate about services through advertising. They draw on narrative theory to suggest that narrative thought is a predominant cognitive mode of comprehension used by consumers to interpret experience (and hence services) and that narrative advertising should be effective in communicating service experience. Finally, they present a series of propositions linking the formal structure of advertising to responses related to the creation of service brand image.
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Mental simulation has been defined as the cognitive construction of hypothetical scenarios, which are usually in the form of stories or narratives. The experiment in this paper examines the favorable effect of ad-encouraged mental simulation on ad attitudes and brand evaluations. A model is developed wherein mental simulation persuades via narrative transportation, defined as immersion into a story (Gerrig 1994; Green and Brock 2000). Transportation includes strong affective responses and low levels of critical thought, which, in turn, affect ad attitudes and brand evaluations.
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This study compares the influences of sales promotions on brand attitude across promotional types over time. An experiment is conducted with 154 subjects who are exposed to test materials for 12 weeks. Evidence shows that the effects of sales promotions on brand attitude depend on the types of deals in the long run. Non-monetary promotion seems to work better in eliciting consumers’ favorable brand attitude than monetary promotion over time. However, such effects are moderated by consumers’ deal proneness, which appears to interfere with the interaction between deal types and brand attitude. Although monetary promotion can induce more negative effects than non-monetary promotion, these effects are weaker in the high deal prone group than in the low deal prone group.
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Narrative advertising conveys the core message by telling a story. The present study investigates the persuasion effects and mediation process for narrative ads, as well as how the presentation format of the story (verbal versus visual) may influence consumers' information processing. The results show that argument strength has a positive effect on attitudes when the ad does not contain a narrative story but the effect diminishes for narrative ads. Transportation mediates the impact of narrative ads on ad attitude and product evaluation when the story presentation is verbal rather than visual.
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The role of stories and their influence on communication have been widely discussed, yet despite recent advances, the elements that constitute a good brand story and their alignment with product types remain unclear. This study uses four between-subjects experiments to test hypotheses pertaining to the appropriate stories for both search and experience products. Authenticity, conciseness, reversal, and humor are generally useful in engaging readers, though brand story elements influence customer attitudes differently for search versus experience products. Authenticity is more important for experience than search products; conciseness has a significant influence on brand attitude only for search products; reversal is more critical to improve brand attitude for experience than search products; and humor exerts a relatively greater influence for search than for experience products. These findings provide insights for marketers who want to design brand stories that align with their products.
Article
Purpose – This paper seeks to examine whether violence embedded in stories in ads can contribute to advertising effectiveness along the same lines as well‐researched ad elements such as the celebrity endorser and the physically attractive ad model. More specifically, the paper aims to assess whether violent content in an ad story adds to excitement perceptions and to overall evaluations such as the attitude toward the ad and the attitude toward the advertised product. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses an experimental approach comprising two studies in which participants were randomly allocated to ads with different levels of violence in an ad story. Findings – The main finding is that representations of real violence (as opposed to staged violence) produced higher levels of excitement, attitude toward the story, attitude toward the ad, and attitude toward the advertised product compared with no violence. Such effects, however, were moderated by the level of congruence between the ad story and the advertised product; the highest response levels were obtained for ads with violent story content dealing explicitly with the advertised product. Originality/value – The finding that violent stories in ads can have a positive charge is consonant with the assumption that violence is a narrative device that may heighten the excitement created by a story. It is also in accord with the observation that many consumers appear to relish stories with a violent content. Yet the main finding challenges existing research on violent ads in which violence consists of an image visually co‐exposed with a brand – and it questions the dominant approach in media violence research, which emphasizes the negative effects of media violence.
Article
Consumer interest in behavior that is good for the environment is increasing, but actual behavior consistent with this objective has not risen accordingly. This may in part be due to consumers not realizing that their environmentally protective behaviors may have tangible future benefits for them. These studies examine the influence of message frames and a consumer’s propensity to think about the future for products that have future benefits. More specifically, these studies examine how consumers respond to temporal frames of savings on product packaging for energy efficient products. Two studies suggest that the temporal framing of savings can influence product choice, purchase intentions, attitudes, and perceptions of savings. The results indicate that future-oriented consumers are likely to have more positive evaluations when savings are framed in the distant future compared to the near future. In addition, there is a mediating effect of perception of savings. These experiments provide information of interest to marketers and researchers regarding the influence of temporal frames and a consumer’s temporal orientation on products that have future benefits.
Article
Purpose The importance of packaging design and the role of packaging as a vehicle for consumer communication and branding are necessarily growing. To achieve communication goals effectively, knowledge about consumer psychology is important so that manufacturers understand consumer response to their packages. this paper aims to investigate this issue. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines these issues using a conjoint study among consumers for packaged food products in Thailand, which is a very competitive packaged food products market. Findings The conjoint results indicate that perceptions about packaging technology (portraying convenience) play the most important role overall in consumer likelihood to buy. Research limitations/implications There is strong segmentation in which packaging elements consumers consider most important. Some consumers are mostly oriented toward the visual aesthetics, while a small segment focuses on product detail on the label. Originality/value Segmentation variables based on packaging response can provide very useful information to help marketers maximize the package's impact.
Article
Brand equity is very important to marketers of consumer goods and services. Brand equity facilitates in the effectiveness of brand extensions and brand introductions. This is because consumers who trust and display loyalty toward a brand are willing to try to adopt brand extensions. While there have been methods to measure the financial value of brand equity, measurement of customer‐based brand equity has been lacking. Presents a scale to measure customer‐based brand equity. The customer‐based brand equity scale is developed based on the five underlying dimensions of brand equity: performance, value, social image, trustworthiness and commitment. In empirical tests, brands that scored higher on the customer‐based brand equity scale generally had higher prices. Discusses the implications for managers.