Narrate, Act, and Resonate to Tell a Visual Story: A Systematic Review of How Images Transport Viewers

Abstract

Marketers today are increasingly using storytelling to engage their audiences. However, the design of narrative visuals is often inspired by a text-centric understanding of narratives. Despite the fast increase in visual content and the distinct processing it induces, extant research on visual narrativity remains fragmented, lacking a comprehensive framework to explain how a single still image can convey a narrative. Our literature review addresses this gap through the lens of narrative transportation theory. Based on a systematic review of 64 articles from marketing and adjacent disciplines, the authors propose that an image must narrate, act, and resonate (NAR) to stimulate narrative processing and transport viewers into its narrative. They also identify specific visual features that can facilitate this process and explore how characteristics of the storyteller, story receiver, and story settings can influence the strength of visual narrative transportation (VNT). Finally, the authors highlight affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses of transported viewers. This research extends narrative transportation theory to the visual domain, offering practical design principles that can be easily applied by marketing professionals. It also outlines an actionable research agenda for marketing scholars to further explore visual narrativity.

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Narrate, Act, and Resonate to Tell a Visual Story:
A Systematic Review of How Images Transport
Viewers
Olesia Nikulina, Allard C. R. van Riel, Jos G. A. M. Lemmink, Dhruv Grewal &
Martin Wetzels
To cite this article: Olesia Nikulina, Allard C. R. van Riel, Jos G. A. M. Lemmink, Dhruv
Grewal & Martin Wetzels (20 Feb 2024): Narrate, Act, and Resonate to Tell a Visual Story:
A Systematic Review of How Images Transport Viewers, Journal of Advertising, DOI:
10.1080/00913367.2024.2309921
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2024.2309921
© 2024 The Author(s). Published with
license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
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Published online: 20 Feb 2024.
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LITERATURE REVIEW CORNER
Narrate, Act, and Resonate to Tell a Visual Story: A Systematic Review of
How Images Transport Viewers
Olesia Nikulina
a,b
, Allard C. R. van Riel
b
, Jos G. A. M. Lemmink
a
, Dhruv Grewal
c
, and Martin Wetzels
d
a
Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands;
b
Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium;
c
Babson College, Wellesley, Massachusetts,
USA;
d
EDHEC Business School, Roubaix, France
ABSTRACT
Marketers today are increasingly using storytelling to engage their audiences. However, the
design of narrative visuals is often inspired by a text-centric understanding of narratives.
Despite the fast increase in visual content and the distinct processing it induces, extant
research on visual narrativity remains fragmented, lacking a comprehensive framework to
explain how a single still image can convey a narrative. Our literature review addresses this
gap through the lens of narrative transportation theory. Based on a systematic review of 64
articles from marketing and adjacent disciplines, the authors propose that an image must
narrate, act, and resonate (NAR) to stimulate narrative processing and transport viewers into
its narrative. They also identify specific visual features that can facilitate this process and
explore how characteristics of the storyteller, story receiver, and story settings can influence
the strength of visual narrative transportation (VNT). Finally, the authors highlight affective,
cognitive, and behavioral responses of transported viewers. This research extends narrative
transportation theory to the visual domain, offering practical design principles that can be
easily applied by marketing professionals. It also outlines an actionable research agenda for
marketing scholars to further explore visual narrativity.
Storytelling helps brands engage audiences by grab-
bing customers’ attention and helping them identify
core messages. The intrinsic value of stories in mar-
keting communication has been established by
research in consumer behavior (Woodside, Sood, and
Miller 2008), branding (Escalas 2004a), digital market-
ing (Ching et al. 2013), and advertising (Escalas 2003).
For advertising professionals in particular, storytelling
offers benefits that extend beyond creating awareness.
Narrative ads, presented in a storylike format (Kim,
Ratneshwar, and Thorson 2017), can create strong
emotional bonds with consumers. Compared with fac-
tual ads that highlight specific product benefits
(Padgett and Allen 1997), narrative ads also improve
customers’ attitudes toward ad and product (Ching
et al. 2013), purchase intentions (Mattila 2000), and
engagement (Farace et al. 2017). Because narrative ads
stimulate affective rather than cognitive processing
(Escalas 2007), they can lead to narrative persuasion
too, through narrative transportation (Escalas 2004a).
Narrative transportation refers to a sense of immer-
sion into a story and detachment from the real world
(Green and Brock 2000). Grabbed and intrigued by
the story (Gerrig 1993; Green and Brock 2000), a
story receiver engages in “an integrative melding of
attention, imagery, and feelings” (Green and Brock
2000, 247), which implies a transformational experi-
ence (Phillips and McQuarrie 2010; Van Laer et al.
CONTACT Olesia Nikulina olesia.nikulina@uhasselt.be Department of Marketing and Strategy, Faculty of Business and Economics, Hasselt
University, Martelarenlaan 42, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium.
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2024.2309921.
Olesia Nikulina (MSc, Hasselt University) is a doctoral candidate, Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, School of Business and
Economics, Maastricht University.
Allard C. R. van Riel (PhD, Maastricht University) is a professor of service innovation management, Department of Marketing and Strategy, Faculty of
Business and Economics, Hasselt University.
Jos G. A. M. Lemmink (PhD, University of Limburg) is a professor of marketing and service innovation, Department of Marketing and Supply Chain
Management, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University.
Dhruv Grewal (PhD, Virginia Tech) is a professor of marketing, Department of Marketing, Babson College.
Martin Wetzels (PhD, Maastricht University) is a professor of marketing, Department of Marketing, EDHEC Business School, Lille Campus.
� 2024 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the
posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING
https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2024.2309921

2014), through which story receivers feel changed
(Gerrig 1993). The ensuing narrative persuasion influ-
ences their affective, cognitive, and behavioral
responses (Van Laer et al. 2014) in ways that are
potent, long-lasting (Green 2008; Green, Garst, and
Brock 2003), and independent of the presented argu-
ment strength (Escalas 2007). Accordingly, increasing
scholarly interest centers on determining which design
elements of an advertisement might foster narrative
transportation and bring about narrative persuasion.
Many ads, such as those that appear in magazines,
on billboards, or in social media, contain visual ele-
ments that represent “tendential or quasi-narratives”
(Wolf 2003, 193). Visual narratives are processed dif-
ferently from other narrative modalities as viewers
tend to instantly reconstruct their meaning using prior
experiences and imagination, which attributes tempor-
ality and causality to visual narratives. As there is no
comprehensive understanding of the specific image
design elements influencing how visuals convey mean-
ing, we seek to extend the theory of narrative trans-
portation into the visual domain. We apply this
theory to single still images, building on the work of
Green and Brock (2002) and Baetens (2009). Thus, we
define visual narrative transportation (VNT) as a tem-
porary state experienced by a consumer of a visual
story due to the transfer of their attention, imagery,
and emotional involvement—either individually or in
combination—from surroundings to the story in an
image.
We undertake a systematic review of articles from
marketing and adjacent disciplines, from which we
derive (1) nine specific visual features that can help
marketing, advertising, and branding practitioners
evoke VNT among audiences; (2) three theoretical
dimensions of visual narrativity that we refer to as
NAR (narrate, act, resonate); (3) affective, cognitive,
and behavioral outcomes of this process; and (4) fac-
tors that can determine the degree of VNT. On the
basis of a systematic review, we propose theoretical
and practical research agendas. The findings about
specific visual features could prove particularly useful
in marketing communication contexts, but the pro-
posed theoretic dimensions may also be relevant to
analyses of any visual data, irrespective of the context.
Background
Narrative Processing and Persuasion
Narratives are stories developed by storytellers and
interpreted through the experiential lens of story
receivers (Van Laer et al. 2014). They are typically
perceived as entertaining rather than persuasive, evok-
ing a different processing mode than nonnarratives
which rely on factual information and which have an
overt persuasive intent (Green 2006, 2008; Green and
Brock 2002; Shen, Sheer, and Li 2015). Processing of a
narrative engages story receivers both emotionally
(Hamby and Jones 2022) and cognitively (Chang
2009), making them more receptive to narrative
claims. As a result, the persuasive power of narratives
depends not solely on the strengths and relevance of
the arguments or an individual’s predisposition to
engage with them but on the narratives’ capacity to
offer a relatable story that is engaging and immersive
(Green 2004, 2008; Green and Brock 2002).
Narrative Transportation
Narrative transportation refers to the extent to which
story receivers become mentally detached from their
immediate surroundings and immerse themselves in
the narrative world (Gerrig 1993; Green and Brock
2000; Van Laer et al. 2014). The concept of narrative
transportation was first introduced by Gerrig (1993),
who metaphorically compared reading books to travel-
ing into the stories they tell. Other studies describe
narrative transportation as being carried away by a
story (Green and Brock 2000), detached from the real
world (Escalas 2004b), or engrossed by the narrative
(Van Laer et al. 2014). Thereafter, story receivers
return in a “somewhat changed” state from their
encounter with the narrative (Gerrig 1993, 11). Such
transformation can lead to narrative persuasion influ-
encing affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses
(Van Laer et al. 2014). Due to story receivers’ percep-
tions of the unintentionality of narrative cues, narra-
tive persuasion often exerts stronger, longer-lasting,
and more certain influences than analytical persuasion
(Appel and Richter 2007; Van Laer et al. 2014).
Narrative transportation represents how story
receivers’ attention, mental representations, and feel-
ings are combined in response to the narrative (Green
and Brock 2000). Narrative attention refers to how
strongly a story receiver concentrates on the narrative
(Polichak and Gerrig 2003). Mental representations
include mental imagery and mental simulation
(Moulton and Kosslyn 2009). Mental imagery defines
how working memory statically represents received
informational stimuli (Peck, Barger, and Webb 2013)
as occurs through individuals’ deliberate attempts to
form mental representations (Barsalou 2008; Kent and
Lamberts 2008). Mental simulation instead is uncon-
scious and evokes dynamic representations of events
2 O. NIKULINA ET AL.

or objects (Barsalou 2008; Delgadillo and Escalas
2004). Finally, narratives can evoke feelings, emotional
involvement (Green and Brock 2000), and empathy
(Delgadillo and Escalas 2004) that story receivers dir-
ect toward characters in the story. All these elements
can contribute to narrative transportation.
Narrative Advertising Media
Advertising research has firmly established the persua-
sive power of narrative content, primarily textual (e.g.,
Escalas 2004b; Kim, Ratneshwar, and Thorson 2017;
Yıldız and Sever 2022), across different contexts,
including health-related communications (e.g., Green
2006; Russell, Hamby, and Russell 2018), social mar-
keting (e.g., Alonso Dos Santos et al. 2017; Merchant
et al. 2010; Van Laer, Feiereisen, and Visconti 2019),
digital marketing (Feng, Chen, and Kong 2021;
Huang, Ha, and Kim 2018; Seo et al. 2018), and more.
This allowed for identifying specific elements of text-
ual ads, such as identifiable characters, an imaginable
plot, and verisimilitude, that can narratively transport
readers and encourage desirable consumer behaviors
(Van Laer et al. 2014).
While other verbal narrative modalities, such as
audio (Kang, Hong, and Hubbard 2020; Reinhart
et al. 2021; Shen, Sheer, and Li 2015; Zheng 2014)
and video narratives (Coker, Flight, and Baima 2021;
Feng et al. 2019), have also received scholarly atten-
tion, there has been relatively little conceptual
emphasis on visual narratives.
However, visual processing is cognitively and affec-
tively different from language processing (Childers
1986; Childers and Houston 1984). From a cognitive
perspective, visuals are processed more rapidly than
semantic stimuli like texts (Fabre-Thorpe et al. 2001;
Simola, Hy€
on€
a, and Kuisma 2014), often within 100
milliseconds (Pieters and Wedel 2012), ensuring
immediate impact. In addition, visual information is
encoded more elaborately in memory due to its vivid-
ness, making it readily accessible later for forming
judgments. From an affective standpoint, images are
faster to access a semantic network with emotional
information (Houwer and Hermans 1994). The cogni-
tive ease of processing images and their affective
importance imply visual information’s superiority in
narrative processing, as viewers rapidly decode and
emotionally react to a visual story (Escalas 2004a;
Schank 1995).
Images as a Source of Narrativity
Images may appear limited in conveying narrative
meaning as they are inherently static and incapable of
depicting the progression of events. Offering a single
viewpoint, an image may omit objects, people, or sit-
uations crucial to extracting its narrative meaning.
Viewers, therefore, must rely on their subjective expe-
riences and emotional and cognitive states to extract a
narrative from an image, leading to variations in vis-
ual narrative processing among individuals. Despite
these limitations, semiotics researchers show that a
narrative can be effectively conveyed by an image
alone. A “frozen action” (Wolf 2003) that visuals por-
tray is reconstructed by viewers who assign a sense of
temporality and causality, producing perceptions of
visual narrative meaning (Baetens 2009). For instance,
for an artwork to qualify as visual narrative art
(Megehee and Woodside 2010), the audience must
perceive that it captures a snapshot of a larger story
(Grigsby, Jewell, and Zamudio 2022). Depicting a
person or anthropomorphic being can also enhance
visual narrative strength by encouraging viewers’ self-
identification (Baetens 2009; Wolf 2003).
Thus, an image can be considered a visual narrative
when it is chronologically or causally organized to
prompt viewers’ curiosity to find an outcome, reso-
lution, or ending of a visual story (Baetens 2009)
inherently containing narrativity (Baetens and Bleyen
2010; Lim and Childs 2020). This aligns with the def-
inition of a narrative by Green and Brock (2000), rec-
ognizing that unanswered questions are primary
drivers of narrative strength. Thus, visuals can provide
varying degrees of narrativity and transport viewers
into stories to different extents.
Visual Narrative Transportation
Because images can function as narrative sources
(Baetens 2009; Wolf 2003) and surpass word-based narra-
tives in capturing attention (Rayner et al. 2001), increas-
ing scholarly interest centers on identifying visual features
(image design elements) that facilitate transportation into
visual narratives. We define VNT as a temporary state
experienced by consumers of a visual story, reflecting the
transfer of their attention, imagery, emotional involve-
ment, or any combination thereof, from their immediate
surroundings to the story portrayed by an image. Despite
the growing number of VNT studies, there is currently
no comprehensive overview of all possible visual features
facilitating VNT. Therefore, we undertake a systematic
review of prior studies from marketing and related fields
JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 3

addressing VNT and associated cognitive processes,
namely, attention, empathy, and emotional involvement.
Figure 1 outlines the goal and focus of the review.
Methodology
Our systematic review integrates existing insights to
establish the state of the art of VNT research and sug-
gest clear research directions. We employ a PRISMA
(preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and
meta-analyses) framework (Moher et al. 2009) to
ensure the replicability and reliability of the results
(Booth, Sutton, and Papaioannou 2012; Tranfield,
Denyer, and Smart 2003). This approach includes
searching, screening, and synthesizing phases
(Macpherson and Holt 2007), as illustrated in Figure 2.
Our focus was on articles exploring the effects of
visual features on narrative transportation and/or
associated cognitive processes: (1) attention to the
narrative, (2) active imagination to form mental repre-
sentations, and (3) emotional connection with the set-
ting or characters, so we included articles linking
visual features with all these concepts. To establish the
effect of visual features on narrative transportation,
we included visually focused search words (e.g., visu-
alOR picture OR image OR photo OR print).
Table 1 presents the search strings and short explana-
tions. The search was applied to the titles and
abstracts of published articles.
Figure 1. Review steps.
Figure 2. Search process.
4 O. NIKULINA ET AL.

Data Collection
We first searched for relevant articles in the Web of
Science (WoS) citation database using the search
strings in Table 1. As the oldest citation database,
WoS applies a strict selection process to index only
high-quality academic journals. We also employed
snowball sampling (backward and forward) of the
references of these identified articles. Finally, we con-
ducted an additional journal search to find articles
that might fit our review objectives but lacked relevant
keywords.
Our research question determined the initial selec-
tion criteria, focusing on empirical and conceptual
studies from marketing-related WoS fields. The sys-
tematic review included articles from the year 2000
when the first study of narrative transportation
appeared (Green and Brock 2000). The search yielded
2,106 documents downloaded into the citation man-
agement software EndNote. We retained only aca-
demic articles from peer-reviewed journals published
in English, excluding books, book chapters, conference
papers, editorials, and other document types in differ-
ent languages. Similar to Calabr
o et al. (2019), we
then assessed whether titles and abstracts fell within
the previously determined scope and conceptual
boundaries of the systematic review. At this stage,
1,874 articles not meeting these standards were dis-
carded, leaving 232 articles for analysis. Excluded
articles predominantly focused on attention, imagery,
empathy, or narrative transportation without integrat-
ing a visual component, not aligning with the system-
atic review’s visual focus.
In the second stage, we sourced additional papers
from the references of the 232 initially identified
articles using a snowballing approach, such that we
analyzed citations of and to selected articles (Webster
and Watson 2002), yielding 61 articles with relevant
titles and abstracts not discovered in the first stage.
Thus, we proceeded with 293 articles in our sample.
The third stage aimed to identify potentially rele-
vant articles that might not feature our search terms
as keywords. We analyzed the journal distribution of
the 293 selected articles to search the leading journals
in terms of frequency separately. We used these jour-
nals’ websites and the same search strings (Table 1) to
ensure consistency in the results. This search yielded
an additional 19 articles, which brought the number
of preselected articles to 312.
Full-Text Reading
The first author read the full texts of all 312 articles
and applied the inclusion criteria to identify those
for the systematic review. To be included, a study’s
research design had to include visual feature(s) of an
image as an independent variable. Each selected art-
icle focuses on how these visual features influence
visual narrative transportation, attention, imagery, or
emotional connection. Applying these criteria
resulted in 64 relevant articles for systematic review.
Figure 3 shows the distribution of relevant articles
per year and research concept, and Table 2 details
the top-occurring journals. Most reviewed articles fall
within the contexts of business-to-consumer (B2C)
product marketing, general advertising, and branding.
Of these, a comparable proportion of articles focused
on social media and luxury marketing (4.7%, three
articles). E-commerce (7.8%, five articles) and retail,
specifically packaging (10.9%, seven articles), also
emerge as researched contexts. In addition, service
Table 1. Overview of the search strings.
Theoretical Concept Search Query Explanation
Narrative transportation TOPIC: ((((narrative AND transport) OR
immersion) AND (visualOR picture OR
image OR photo OR print)))
“Narrative transport” aims to extract articles focused on
narrative transportation (or “transportability,” “transported,”
etc.). The additional term “immersion” was added after the
preliminary literature search as an often-used synonym for
“narrative transportation.”
Mental representations TOPIC: (((mental AND (imagery OR simulation))
AND (visualOR picture OR image OR
photo OR print)))
“Mental imagery” aims to extract articles focused on mental
representations as a construct associated with visual
narrative transportation (VNT). The additional term “mental
simulation” was added after the preliminary literature
search as a dimension of mental representations.
Attention TOPIC: (((attention OR eye-tracking) AND
(visualOR picture OR image OR photo OR
print)))
“Attention” aims to extract articles dealing with attention as a
construct associated with VNT. The term “eye-tracking” was
added after the preliminary literature search; it is a
commonly used method in attention studies.
Empathy TOPIC: (((empathy OR (emotional AND
(contagion OR resonance OR involvement)))
AND (visualOR picture OR image OR
photo OR print)))
“Empathy” aims to extract articles in which empathy is a
construct associated with VNT. Additional terms “emotional
contagion,” “emotional resonance,” and “emotional
involvement” were added after the preliminary literature
search because they represent similar academic concepts.
JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 5

(10.9%, seven articles) and social marketing (17.2%,
11 articles) present a prominent focus of the
reviewed articles.
Results
We systematically reviewed 64 articles to establish the
state of the art of VNT research (see Supplemental
Online Appendix 1). To present the results, we start
with a detailed discussion of the visual features that
were found to contribute to VNT or to one of the
associated cognitive processes: attention, imagery, or
empathy. The proposed visual features specify options
for designing transporting images that are likely to
persuade audiences.
Visual Features as Antecedents of VNT
Because the current systematic review primarily
focuses on visual features that evoke VNT, we start
with a detailed description of all visual features
extracted from the reviewed articles: visual complexity,
background, color, composition, people, objects, real-
ism, dynamism, and taboo.
Visual complexity is the level of detail and intricacy
in an image (Snodgrass and Vanderwart 1980). The
reviewed articles focus on its impact on attention and
imagery and, in line with Pieters, Wedel, and Batra
(2010), differentiate between two types of visual com-
plexity: feature and design complexity. Low feature
complexity, subjectively assessed by visual element
density, can draw attention to an image overall (An
et al. 2020; Bialkova, Grunert, and van Trijp 2013;
Li et al. 2020; Myers et al. 2020; Orth and Crouch
2014) and encourage heightened mental imagery (Lee
and Shin 2020; Zhao, Dahl, and Hoeffler 2014) but
can reduce attention to depicted objects (Li et al.
2020; Pilelien_
e and Grigali
unait_
e 2016). Medium fea-
ture complexity appears to facilitate visual processing
(Li et al. 2020). Conversely, high design complexity,
assessed by the image’s creativity and metaphorical
elements, enhances attention (Beard, Henninger, and
Venkatraman 2022; Garc
ıa-Madariaga et al. 2020) and
mental imagery (Walters, Sparks, and Herington
Figure 3. Distribution of articles for review.
Table 2. Most prolific journals contributing to visual narrative transportation (VNT) research.
Journal Title Frequency Impact Factor (WoS) Citation Indicator (WoS)
Journal of Advertising 6 6.53 1.83
Journal of Business Research 6 10.97 2.14
Journal of Consumer Research 6 8.61 1.72
International Journal of Advertising 4 5.89 1.54
European Journal of Marketing 3 5.18 0.90
Journal of Advertising Research 3 3.03 0.84
Journal of Marketing Research 3 6.66 1.22
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 3 10.97 2.13
International Journal of Research in Marketing 2 8.05 1.26
Note. Only journals appearing more than once in the selection are included in Table 2. WoS ¼Web of Science.
6 O. NIKULINA ET AL.

2007). All 10 reviewed articles (100%) focusing on vis-
ual complexity found a statistically significant effect
on imagery or attention.
Our review suggests that background design also
can strongly influence visual processing (Wu and
Li 2021), with more complex backgrounds enhancing
attention and mental imagery. Two background com-
plexity types appear in the literature: feature and con-
textual. The former corresponds to regular feature
complexity, as described previously. Contextual back-
grounds, as opposed to plain ones, present a relevant
product or service use case, helping the viewer pos-
ition an image in a context (Maier and Dost 2018).
Both feature and contextual complexity of a back-
ground can enhance viewers’ attention (Li et al. 2020)
and stimulate more vivid mental imagery (Maier and
Dost 2018; Wu and Li 2021; Yoo and Kim 2014;
Zhang, Xiao, and Nicholson 2020), with 83.3% of
reviewed articles finding statistically significant effects.
Color as a powerful marketing tool can significantly
impact visual attention and empathy. While some
studies find no differences between black-and-white
and colorful images in generating attention (Zhang,
Wedel, and Pieters 2009), others suggest colorful
images attract more attention and empathy
(Fernandez and Rosen 2000; Zhou and Xue 2019).
Reviewed studies do not conclusively establish the
effect of color warmth either (Choi et al. 2020;
Garc
ıa-Madariaga et al. 2019). Regarding color hues,
basic colors, especially green, red, and blue, attract
more attention than non-basic colors (Jansson,
Marlow, and Bristow 2004). Despite three out of five
(60%) reviewed articles indicating a certain effect of
color on attention or empathy, findings are inconclu-
sive, necessitating further research for validation. Due
to unclear links between color and VNT’s related con-
structs, color is omitted from the following discussion.
Visual composition, or the arrangement of elements
in an image, can influence VNT, attention, and men-
tal imagery. The reviewed research focused on the
depicted perspective, centrality (arrangement of por-
trayed objects around a central axis), and symmetry
(similarity of image parts across an axis). In detail,
first-person perspective images are associated with
higher VNT (Farace et al. 2017; Mou, Gao, and Yang
2019) and mental imagery levels (Hur, Lim, and Lyu
2020; Jiang et al. 2014). Centrality and symmetry cap-
ture viewers’ attention, with central and vertically
symmetric areas drawing the most attention (Lacoste-
Badie, Gagnan, and Droulers 2020; Orquin et al.
2020). However, Lacoste-Badie, Gagnan, and Droulers
(2020) also find that overall symmetric images attract
less attention than nonsymmetric ones. Composition’s
impact on VNT, attention, or imagery is statistically
significant across all six (100%) reviewed articles,
establishing it as a highly certain visual feature in
VNT contexts.
Images depicting people or anthropomorphized
objects elicit stronger emotional responses from view-
ers through emotional transfer (Waytz, Cacioppo, and
Epley 2010), fostering imagery, attention, empathy,
and VNT. These effects might be evoked by the pres-
ence of a human in general, a human face, or differ-
ent characteristics of the portrayed model. The very
presence of humans or humanlike representations in
visual stimuli can facilitate VNT (Back et al. 2020;
Grigsby, Jewell, and Zamudio 2022), imagery
(Aydıno
glu and Cian 2014), attention (Guido et al.
2019), and empathy (Mogaji, Czarnecka, and Danbury
2018), independent of the number of portrayed people
(Baberini et al. 2015). The perceived attractiveness of
portrayed individuals can also influence consumer
responses, recommending the use of unattractive
models (Fisher and Ma 2014) or an attractive model
within an unattractive group (Grinstein, Hagtvedt,
and Kronrod 2019) to increase empathy. Furthermore,
a model’s gaze averted from the viewer (versus direct)
enhances VNT (To and Patrick 2021) and attention
(Adil, Lacoste-Badie, and Droulers 2018; Hutton and
Nolte 2011), most strongly when averted gazes are
directed toward the advertised product (Adil, Lacoste-
Badie, and Droulers 2018; Hutton and Nolte 2011).
Finally, intense emotions displayed by models can
increase emotional transfer (Hasford, Hardesty, and
Kidwell 2015) and attention (Badenes-Rocha, Bigne,
and Ruiz-Maf
e 2022; Beard, Henninger, and
Venkatraman 2022). However, the emotional valence
portrayed should align with the marketing goal, with
sad models evoking greater empathetic responses for
social marketing campaigns (Baberini et al. 2015;
Pham and Septianto 2019; Small and Verrochi 2009)
and happy models increasing attention (Berg,
S€
oderlund, and Lindstr€
om 2015) and empathy
(Kulczynski, Ilicic, and Baxter 2016; Mogaji,
Czarnecka, and Danbury 2018) in product advertising.
Authentic and evident happiness, particularly when a
model has a genuine and large smile, garners more
attention (Wang et al. 2017) and empathy (Isabella
and Vieira 2020). The effects of portrayed people on
VNT and the related cognitive processes of attention,
empathy, or imagery have been examined in 26
reviewed articles, of which 15 (57.7%) reported con-
gruent and significant results.
JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 7

Because viewers perceive images as a combination
of presented elements, manipulating depicted objects
or their characteristics can affect viewers’ attention,
empathy, or VNT. Featuring objects related to the
advertised product increases attention (Badenes-
Rocha, Bigne, and Ruiz-Maf
e 2022; Clement et al.
2017; Radach et al. 2003; Simola, Kuisma, and
Kaakinen 2020), with similar effects observed for
nature (Hartmann, Apaolaza, and Alija 2013); the
inclusion of animals can enhance empathy (Mogaji,
Czarnecka, and Danbury 2018). Larger portrayed
objects attract attention (Orquin et al. 2020) and
facilitate transportation (Back et al. 2020), suggesting
enlarging representations of the promoted product
can yield positive outcomes. All seven reviewed
articles (100%) found a significant effect of portraying
objects on VNT, attention, or empathy, establishing
objects as a visual feature with high certainty in VNT
contexts.
Image realism implies a degree of consistency
between portrayed objects and their real-life represen-
tations. Viewers can rely on past experiences and
knowledge to process more realistic images, which can
facilitate VNT or imagery. Two elements of image
realism contribute to higher VNT (Buskermolen et al.
2015; Farace et al. 2017; Lim and Childs 2020). The
first is image intentionality, determined by the level of
its artificial manipulation; unintentional images
(unedited images or unstaged photos) foster more
VNT than intentional ones (Farace et al. 2017; Lim
and Childs 2020). The second element is vividness,
indicating how closely an image represents real events;
more vivid images enhance mental imagery (Miller
and Stoica 2004; Petrova and Cialdini 2005; Kim,
Choi, and Wakslak 2019) or VNT (Buskermolen et al.
2015). Realism warrants further investigation from
researchers as only 42.9% (three out of seven) of the
reviewed articles found evidence that it can signifi-
cantly affect VNT or mental imagery.
Dynamism refers to how static images convey an
indication of movement, creating dynamic imagery
and mental time sequences for viewers (Escalas 2004a;
Wolf 2003). Movement can be depicted directly
through actions or indirectly through visual patterns.
Scholars agree that directly showing movement
increases VNT, especially when combined with previ-
ously mentioned image vividness (Farace et al. 2017;
Grigsby, Jewell, and Zamudio 2022). Indirectly, regu-
lar patterns, as opposed to irregular ones, convey a
sense of motion, facilitating mental imagery (Farace
et al. 2020; Kress and Van Leeuwen 1996). Despite
dynamism’s popularity in VNT research, more
evidence is needed as only three out of four (75%)
reviewed articles found it to predict VNT or mental
imagery.
Finally, images may incorporate taboos to stand out
from visual clutter, involving objects, events, or behaviors
that defy socially accepted norms (Myers et al. 2020),
such as sexual, grotesque, or other shocking content
(Dahl, Frankenberger, and Manchanda 2003). The impact
of sexual content in visual ads is debated; it can increase
attention (Fidelis et al. 2017), which, however, tends to
focus on the model rather than the brand or overall
image (Cummins, Gong, and Reichert 2020). Shocking
elements in images can facilitate VNT (An et al. 2020),
attention (Dahl, Frankenberger, and Manchanda 2003;
Myers et al. 2020; Parry et al. 2013), or empathy (Albouy
2017; Allred and Amos 2018). A subset of research on
grotesque visuals, defined as bizarre, odd, absurd, or devi-
ant, reveals that they induce greater transportation than
nongrotesque ones (An et al. 2020; Phillips and
McQuarrie 2010). Of the nine reviewed articles that
examined taboo, 77.7% reported its significant effect on
VNT, attention, or empathy.
Figure 4 visualizes which image features affect
VNT, attention, imagery, or empathy; Supplemental
Online Appendix 2 presents recent social media exam-
ples of branded images corresponding to each visual
feature.
Dimensions of Visual Narrativity
Linking the insights from the reviewed literature with
the extended transportation-imagery model (Van Laer
et al. 2014) and narrative studies (Bruner 1990;
Escalas 2003; Stern 1994), we propose three dimen-
sions of visual narrativity: narrate, act, and resonate,
collectively referred to as NAR. These dimensions
aggregate previously identified visual features, provid-
ing a higher-level overview of what a transporting
image should do: frame its narrative, introduce an
actor, and resonate with a viewer.
Using NAR, we further discuss possible VNT out-
comes and moderators, as well as identify research
gaps and suggest future research avenues. For add-
itional article-level findings, consult Supplemental
Online Appendix 1. Each dimension and its visual fea-
tures are defined in the sections that follow, acknowl-
edging their non–mutual exclusivity. Figure 5 presents
visual examples.
Narrate
The narrate dimension refers to the setting of an
image. It reflects a still representation of the plot of a
8 O. NIKULINA ET AL.

word-based narrative, as often pursued by book jacket
or movie poster designers who seek to provide a static
snapshot of the story events. This dimension includes
the following visual features: complexity, background,
colors, and composition.
Act
Tied to the image’s main actor (person or object), the
act dimension corresponds to an identifiable character
in word-based narratives (Van Laer et al. 2014).
Reviewed articles suggest both people and objects can
be actors.
Resonate
As a snapshot of a temporal event, an image can pre-
sent elements that build suspense or signify climax
resolution, resonating with a viewer. The degree of
resonance depends on story receivers’ collective expe-
riences, combining memory, imagination, and emo-
tional state to assign meaning and form vivid
representations. We propose three features—realism,
Figure 4. Image features.
Note: Grey-highlighted blocks indicate that only a direct—not mediating—effect of a visual feature on a corresponding construct
was examined in the reviewed articles.
Figure 5. Examples of the three dimensions of visual narrativity.
Source: https://www.pexels.com/@cottonbro/ (copyright-free).
JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 9

dynamism, and taboo—that can make an image res-
onate with its viewers.
Outcomes of Visual Narrative Transportation
Transported viewers likely experience narrative per-
suasion and altered beliefs (Green and Brock 2002;
Van Laer et al. 2014). However, there remains a lim-
ited understanding of which consumer responses can
be elicited through the VNT process. We qualitatively
coded all outcomes that visual features in our sample
could evoke, revealing three main groups. Affective
outcomes encompass all emotion-oriented and attitu-
dinal consumer responses. Cognitive outcomes involve
consumers’ thinking and mental processes, including
how they perceive, elaborate, interpret, and memorize
information. Behavioral responses incorporate all
action-oriented responses and inclinations that con-
sumers may form during or after a cognitive
evaluation.
In the following paragraphs, we present an over-
view of consumer responses that can be triggered by
identified visual features. Within the context of our
NAR theoretical framework, we further term images
showcasing these features as transporting, with their
viewers referred to as transported viewers.
Affective
Viewers of transporting visuals can elicit affective
responses, fostering an emotional connection with the
image. The affective responses studied in VNT and
related contexts include feelings (Allred and Amos
2018; Berg, S€
oderlund, and Lindstr€
om 2015), emotions
(e.g., Albouy 2017; Hartmann, Apaolaza, and Alija
2013; Lim and Childs 2020), and attitudes (e.g.,
Farace et al. 2020; Jiang et al. 2014; Lee and Shin
2020). Transporting visual narratives can convey feel-
ings that viewers internalize (e.g., Albouy 2017;
Baberini et al. 2015), such as joy (Berg, S€
oderlund,
and Lindstr€
om 2015) or guilt (Allred and Amos
2018), as well as positive emotions (Hartmann,
Apaolaza, and Alija 2013; Yoo and Kim 2014). In add-
ition, transporting images can lead to a more positive
attitude toward the advertised product (e.g., Farace
et al. 2020; Jiang et al. 2014), brand (Adil, Lacoste-
Badie, and Droulers 2018; Kulczynski, Ilicic, and
Baxter 2016), and a brand’s social media (Hur, Lim,
and Lyu 2020).
Cognitive
Transported viewers invest cognitive effort in image
processing, enhancing ad comprehension, activating
their memory, and helping them form preferences.
First, transporting images are generally perceived as
personally relevant, stimulating increased cognitive
load (Garc
ıa-Madariaga et al. 2019; Kim, Choi, and
Wakslak 2019) and processing fluency (Orth and
Crouch 2014). Second, they can improve recall (e.g.,
Adil, Lacoste-Badie, and Droulers 2018; Dahl,
Frankenberger, and Manchanda 2003; Fidelis et al.
2017) and recognition (e.g., Adil, Lacoste-Badie, and
Droulers 2018; Guido et al. 2019; Hartmann,
Apaolaza, and Alija 2013) of the ad, portrayed prod-
uct, or brand. Third, viewers perceive transporting
visuals as more effective (To and Patrick 2021), inter-
esting (Radach et al. 2003; Simola, Kuisma, and
Kaakinen 2020), pleasant, original, and intellectually
challenging (Simola, Kuisma, and Kaakinen 2020)
than nontransporting ones. In addition, these images
lead to a better perception of the consumer experience
(An et al. 2020; Phillips and McQuarrie 2010) and of
the connection with an advertised brand (Hur, Lim,
and Lyu 2020; Lim and Childs 2020). As a result,
products from transporting visual ads are perceived as
better performing (Buskermolen et al. 2015), more
reliable (Isabella and Vieira 2020), and typical (Berg,
S€
oderlund, and Lindstr€
om 2015), leading viewers to
form preferences toward an ad (Guido et al. 2019)
and a portrayed product (e.g., Clement et al. 2017;
Garc
ıa-Madariaga et al. 2019; Simola, Kuisma, and
Kaakinen 2020).
Behavioral
Advertisers rely on consumer behavioral responses to
gauge the impact and effectiveness of visual ads.
According to the reviewed studies, transporting
images can lead to behavioral responses such as con-
sideration, choice, and actual intentions. Viewers of
such images are more likely to include the product in
their consideration set (Fernandez and Rosen 2000)
and ultimately choose it (Fernandez and Rosen 2000;
Petrova and Cialdini 2005). They also tend to advo-
cate for a brand (Badenes-Rocha, Bigne, and Ruiz-
Maf
e 2022), including sharing its ad via word of
mouth (Buskermolen et al. 2015; Farace et al. 2017;
Yoo and Kim 2014), extend their information search
(Hur, Lim, and Lyu 2020; Yoo and Kim 2014), and
engage in prosocial behavior such as donations (e.g.,
Choi et al. 2020; Grinstein, Hagtvedt, and Kronrod
2019; Small and Verrochi 2009). Finally, transporting
images are linked to a greater intention to purchase
(e.g., Chen et al. 2021; Maier and Dost 2018; Wang
et al. 2017) and a willingness to pay price premiums
10 O. NIKULINA ET AL.

(Back et al. 2020; Hasford, Hardesty, and Kidwell
2015; Yoo and Kim 2014).
Moderators of Visual Narrative Transportation
Visual narrative is cocreated by a storyteller and a
story receiver, as the former encodes a story into an
image and the latter decodes it (Van Laer et al. 2014).
We propose three moderator categories for visual fea-
tures and VNT. The first group focuses on how story-
tellers encode their messages; the second on how
characteristics of story receivers affect decoding visual
narrative; and the third on how a visual narrative is
presented. The moderators featured in the sections
that follow were selected based on three criteria,
including theoretical relevance for advertising
research, generalizability, and significance in the
reviewed articles.
Storyteller
As storytellers, companies design their visual ads to
help consumers interpret them, for example, by pre-
senting different types of advertised products. Beyond
ensuring product–ad alignment (An et al. 2020;
Kulczynski, Ilicic, and Baxter 2016), advertisers should
consider product characteristics. For instance, research
indicates that anthropomorphism benefits unpopular
products, boosting empathy and purchase intentions
(Chen et al. 2021). For experience and ambiguous
products, placing them against contextual back-
grounds aids imagery formation (Maier and Dost
2018). Consumers often struggle with purchase deci-
sions for such products (McCabe and Nowlis 2003),
and brands can assist by providing additional visual
cues to facilitate product liking and purchase inten-
tions (Chen et al. 2021; Maier and Dost 2018).
Story Receivers
Story receivers are not passive consumers but rather
active interpreters of stories, shaping narratives based
on cognitive preferences, consumption goals, emo-
tions, and prior experiences (Van Laer et al. 2014).
First, cognitive preferences, including information
processing style, need for status, self-esteem, telepres-
ence, and focus on internal experiences, moderate the
impact of visuals. Visually oriented individuals gener-
ally experience greater mental imagery (Yoo and Kim
2014). Viewers with a high need for status (Mou, Gao,
and Yang 2019) and low self-esteem (Aydıno
glu and
Cian 2014) can experience increased immersion and
imagery for first-person perspective images, enhancing
their emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses.
The level of telepresence, or how strongly a viewer is
immersed in digital technology, amplifies the effect of
transporting visuals on consumer cognitive responses
(Lim and Childs 2020); and high focus on internal
experiences, denoting that individuals can reflect on
and be aware of their emotional state, facilitates men-
tal imagery and attention to complex stimuli (Petrova
and Cialdini 2005; Orth and Crouch 2014). Second,
the reviewed articles explored the moderating effect of
different consumption goals. Consumers focused
solely on acquiring product information are more sen-
sitive to visual cues (Jiang et al. 2014), favoring more
complex backgrounds (Wu and Li 2021); for consum-
ers with utilitarian (versus hedonic) goals, visual cues
can enhance product attractiveness (Orth and Crouch
2014). Third, consumers’ emotional intelligence can
foster visual narrative comprehension too (Hasford,
Hardesty, and Kidwell 2015; Grinstein, Hagtvedt, and
Kronrod 2019). However, higher emotional awareness
tends to decrease emotional contagion from a visual
ad, weakening product judgments (Hasford, Hardesty,
and Kidwell 2015). Finally, consumers’ familiarity
with the ad source prompts automatic pleasant feel-
ings (Kulczynski, Ilicic, and Baxter 2016); involvement
with a cause influences transportation and willingness
to express prosocial behaviors (Albouy 2017).
Story Situation
Story situation refers to how a transporting image is
presented. The ad message type and exposure time sig-
nificantly impact the effectiveness of a transporting
image. For example, anticipatory (versus retrospective)
visual ads (Zhao, Dahl, and Hoeffler 2014) accompa-
nied by instructions to imagine (Petrova and Cialdini
2005; Walters, Sparks, and Herington 2007) stimulate
mental imagery, especially for simple images.
Emotional ads enhance narrative, particularly when the
model’s gaze is averted (To and Patrick 2021), while
recognition (versus request) ads work best in combin-
ation with happy (versus sad) portrayed emotions
(Pham and Septianto 2019). Long ad exposure times
can decrease attention to the ad (Guido et al. 2019).
Figure 6 offers an integrated framework of VNT
that brings together the three dimensions of visual nar-
rativity, their corresponding visual features, possible
outcomes of VNT, and the storyteller, story receiver,
and story setting characteristics that are likely to affect
the transportation experience. The model is presented
at an aggregated level, listing all possible variables and
connections identified in the reviewed research.
JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 11

Research Agenda
Building on the VNT framework suggested here, we
highlight areas needing more attention from market-
ing scholars. Table 3 summarizes the research gaps
and promising research directions. We list the sug-
gested future research directions based on their
relevance for marketing research and practice. First,
we propose focusing on actual consumer behaviors
evoked by VNT to enhance communication and ad
campaign outcomes. In addition, expanding beyond
the nine visual features studied in VNT contexts is
crucial for a more comprehensive understanding,
including a systematic study of interactions between
Figure 6. Visual narrative transportation (VNT) model.
Table 3. Research agenda.
Research Gaps Priority Research Avenues
Outcomes of visual narrative transportation
(VNT): What responses transported viewers
elicit
1 1. What actual behaviors (versus behavioral intentions) does VNT evoke and why?
2. How can brands benefit from visual storytelling?
New visual features: What previously
unaddressed visual features can transport
viewers
2 1. How can visual perception components (e.g., illuminance, materiality) transport
viewers?
2. Do some visual features carry more transportation power than others and why?
Interaction of visual features: How presence of
certain visual features affects transportation
power of others
3Complexity Color
1. Does color-induced complexity (color variation) have a similar effect on VNT as
regular complexity? Why or why not?
2. How do analogous and complementary color pairs affect visual complexity and,
consequently, VNT?
Dynamism 3 Composition
1. Does the size of the depicted moving element mediate the effect of motion on
VNT? Why or why not?
2. How do the orientation (left-right facing) and positioning (top-bottom, left-
right) of the moving object affect VNT? What about the rule of thirds?
Realism 3 People
1. Does the effect of image intentionality also hold for images with no humans
portrayed (e.g., product shoots)? Why or why not?
2. Does the congruence between an advertised product/service and model
demographics affect VNT? Why or why not?
Visual narrativity dimensions: How different
visual narrativity dimensions (NAR) and their
combinations affect VNT
4 1. What dimension of visual narrativity or their combinations facilitate visual narrative
transportation best and why?
2. How can one measure each visual narrativity dimension within an image?
3. What visual features resonate the most with the viewer?
External environment of VNT: What external
factors affect VNT
5 1. How does the environment in which a viewer sees the image affect transportation
levels?
2. What is the role of multimodal interaction (e.g., image and text, image and video,
image and audio)?
Other narrative modalities 6 1. What role do visual elements of a video play in its narrative transportation power?
12 O. NIKULINA ET AL.

visual features. Once the VNT framework is thor-
oughly examined, we advocate for reevaluating the
external environment’s impact on visual narrative
consumption, for example by exploring how visual
aspects of complex narrative modalities, such as video,
contribute to transportation power. These suggestions
create a research flow for a comprehensive under-
standing of VNT.
Outcomes of VNT
Articles in our systematic review predominantly ana-
lyze the effect of VNT on behavioral intentions, but
intentions indicate only a willingness to perform a
particular behavior, which is not guaranteed to occur
(Fishbein and Yzer 2003). Building on long-standing
calls (Patrick and Peracchio 2010), we encourage
scholars to track consumer decision making and
actual behaviors in response to their VNT.
Conducting field experiments and studies appears to
be a rational and reliable approach to achieving this
goal.
New Visual Features and Interactions among
Features
Our systematic review identifies nine visual features
that help transport viewers (complexity, background,
composition, colors, character, objects, realism, dyna-
mism, and taboo). However, many promising visual
features remain unexplored in terms of their impact
on VNT. To further advance research, we recommend
prioritizing studying overlooked visual features and
their interactions. First, researchers should revisit the
impact of color (hue, saturation, and lightness) on
VNT to address conflicting findings in existing litera-
ture. Second, we encourage researchers to focus on
the core components of visual perception, as detailed
by Sample, Hagtvedt, and Brasel (2020), such as image
illuminance, materiality, portrayed shapes, and loca-
tions of entities and objects and their role in the VNT
process.
In addition, existing research often focuses on the
impact of a single visual feature, overlooking the
interaction effects of visual features. Human percep-
tions of certain visual features can change drastically
in the presence of other features (e.g., color and size
perceptions; Hagtvedt and Brasel 2017; illuminance
and color perception; Chetverikov and Ivanchei 2016),
calling for more research in this area. Only 5 out of
64 reviewed articles explore interactions among visual
features, such as intentionality (Farace et al. 2017; Lim
and Childs 2020) and human presence (Grigsby,
Jewell, and Zamudio 2022) with image dynamism,
taboo with visual complexity (Maier and Dost 2018),
and portrayed emotions with gaze direction (Baberini
et al. 2015), thus predominantly focusing on higher-
level (versus lower-level) visual feature interactions.
Higher-level visual features present semantically more
meaningful concepts and patterns derived from a
combination of lower-order, basic visual features
detected early in visual processing. We encourage
researchers to explore the interaction effect among
lower-level visual features, for example, shapes and
colors, aligning with a call for advanced marketing
research methods and wider use of unstructured field
data (e.g., Balducci and Marinova 2018; Grewal,
Gupta, and Hamilton 2021; Ordenes and Zhang 2019;
Wagemans et al. 2012).
Visual Narrativity Dimensions
While we derive three visual narrativity dimensions—
using the initialism NAR—based on prior research,
their interrelationships and combined effects in trans-
porting viewers lack adequate conceptualizations.
Evidence from reviewed articles and narrativity litera-
ture (e.g., Baetens 2009; Wolf 2003) suggests that vis-
ual narrativity increases with the combination of more
dimensions, with resonating images contributing most
strongly. Further research is crucial to define the com-
parative and combined contributions of narrate, act,
and resonate, as illustrated in Figure 7. In addition,
future research could aim to empirically assess these
dimensions and formulate reliable scales for their
measurement.
External Context of VNT
The current state of VNT research exclusively focuses
on the effects of a single still image, neglecting exter-
nal factors. However, the world is inherently multi-
modal, and meaning is commonly conveyed through
the combination of multiple information modalities
(Grewal et al. 2022). Researchers can enhance the
understanding of VNT by separating the pure effect
of visual features from external influences. Using our
proposed framework, we suggest systematically
reviewing evidence on how external factors affect
VNT, contributing to the ecological validity of the
VNT model.
In addition, visual narratives often appear alongside
other narrative modalities, such as texts. Because con-
sumers process textual and visual narratives
JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 13

differently, it may interfere with the transportation
power of a visual narrative. We align with other
scholars in calling for deeper insights into the inter-
action effects between texts and images (Labrecque
and Milne 2012; Ordenes and Zhang 2019).
Other Narrative Modalities
Examining image narrativity may inspire future
research on multimodal narratives, shedding light on
more complex narrative structures. A notable example
is a video clip representing a dynamic combination of
visual, audio, and textual narratives. As video-based
brand–consumer communication gains traction,
researchers investigate factors influencing its storytell-
ing impact (e.g., Chang 2019; Coker, Flight, and
Baima 2021; Dessart 2018). However, video narratives
have traditionally been studied through text-based
frameworks, such as Freytag’s pyramid (Freytag and
MacEwan 1894/1900), neglecting visual and audio
roles. The video’s visual aesthetics, such as colors or
frame composition (Wooley et al. 2022), can
significantly impact its popularity (Moghaddam et al.
2019; Zhou et al. 2021), appeal (Moorthy, Obrador,
and Oliver 2010), and effectiveness (Li, Shi, and Wang
2019), potentially influencing transportation power.
Because each video consists of still frames, future
research can extend insights from this review to
multimodal narratives, including visual data like
videos.
Figure 8 presents the final model of VNT, includ-
ing suggested future research directions. The proposed
future research directions are indicated by dashed
lines and dashed boxes with a italicized font.
Conclusion
Despite the recent increase in visual marketing
research, there exists no comprehensive framework for
defining the determinants of visual storytelling power.
To address this gap, we conducted a systematic review
of visual narrative transportation based on 64 articles
from marketing and related fields. In so doing, we (1)
note specific visual features that can transport viewers,
Figure 7. Selected examples of NAR dimensions combinations.
Source: https://www.pexels.com/@cottonbro/ (copyright-free).
14 O. NIKULINA ET AL.

(2) identify the dimensions of visual narrativity, (3)
suggest VNT outcomes, and (4) propose factors affect-
ing transportation processes.
Based on our insights, we propose that a transport-
ing image should narrate, act, and resonate, presenting
the setting where a visual story takes place, a focal
actor, and elements for viewer resonance. For each
dimension, we list practice-relevant visual features:
complexity, background, composition, people, objects,
realism, dynamism, and taboo. Finally, we discuss the
affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses of view-
ers of transporting images, providing valuable insights
for theoreticians and practitioners on how visual
storytelling, specifically VNT, impacts consumers.
Unexplored questions, such as the optimal visual nar-
rativity dimension or external environments facilitat-
ing VNT, are highlighted in the developed future
research directions.
Our systematic review contributes to scholarly con-
versations about visual perception, as initiated by
Sample, Hagtvedt, and Brasel (2020). We identify
inconsistencies and gaps in existing research, then
propose ways to address them and set a research
agenda. Beyond academia, our review has practical
implications by listing specific visual features, illus-
trated with real social media posts, to help image crea-
tors better connect with audiences and convey
compelling stories.
Limitations
This systematic review attempted to create a litera-
ture-based framework for visual narrative transporta-
tion; however, it has several limitations. First, it
focused on the impact of visual features without con-
sidering external factors, suggesting a need for cross-
sectional studies beyond our scope. Similarly, the
review’s guidelines apply only to narrative images; we
acknowledge that factual visual ads may require differ-
ent design approaches. In addition, we acknowledge
that while narrative ads are generally more effective in
conveying brand messages (e.g., Chang 2009; Kim,
Ratneshwar, and Thorson 2017), factual ads may be
more appropriate for certain advertising purposes
(Janssen and Non 2009).
Second, the focus on marketing outcomes may hin-
der nonmarketing studies. Opening doors to other
disciplines, like neuroscience or computer science,
Figure 8. Final visual narrative transportation (VNT) model, including future research directions.
Note: Dashed lines and dashed boxes with cursive font illustrate the proposed future research directions.
JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 15

could strengthen the link between visual features and
narrative transportation, extending beyond advertis-
ing, branding, and marketing.
Third, despite a rigorous search process, there
might be articles the current review did not capture,
as we did not focus on working and forthcoming
papers. Revisiting the systematic review in several
years could be a good way to include newly published
studies and update the NAR framework. The search
strings and methodology described can guide
replication.
Finally, the review represents the first attempt to
catalog visual features for narrative transportation
comprehensively. While broadening the scope and
capturing articles focusing not only on VNT but also
on attention, imagery, and empathy introduced add-
itional visual features, outcomes, and moderators, it
may also have introduced noise into the conceptual
model. Nevertheless, given that our goal is to offer an
inclusive overview of all potential transporting visual
features, we firmly believe that this approach in this
regard yields the most comprehensive results.
Acknowledgment
The authors gratefully acknowledge the suggestions of
Dr. Tom van Laer.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the
author(s).
Funding
This work was supported by the Fondetenschappelijk
Onderzoek (1SE5123N).
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