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“I” Value the Future, but “We” Value the Past: The Impact of Self‐Construal on Nostalgia Versus Forestalgia Narrative Ads

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Mei Wu
Mei Wu
Mei Wu
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Zhigang Shou
Zhigang Shou
Zhigang Shou
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Sarena Su at Northwestern University
Sarena Su
Xiaotian Liu at University of Queensland
Xiaotian Liu
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Abstract and Figures

Marketers often use narrative ads as a powerful tool to shape consumer attitudes. These ads deliver key messages through storytelling, but what makes a story effective in the eyes of the consumer remains largely unexplored. Using a Facebook field study and a series of four experimental studies, we examined the interaction between the narrative's temporal type (nostalgia vs. forestalgia) and the characters' self‐construal (interdependent vs. independent) on consumer attitudes. Drawing on regulatory focus theory and regulatory fit theory, we found that consumers prefer forestalgia (vs. nostalgia) narrative ads when paired with an independent (vs. interdependent) character. In addition, this effect was mediated by narrative transportation, which enhanced consumers' attitudes toward the ad. These findings advance our understanding of effective narrative advertising and offer practical insights for marketers by highlighting the importance of aligning the narrative temporal type with the character's self‐construal to create more impactful ads.
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Psychology & Marketing
RESEARCH ARTICLE
“I”Value the Future, but “We”Value the Past: The
Impact of Self‐Construal on Nostalgia Versus Forestalgia
Narrative Ads
Mei Wu
1
| Zhigang Shou
1
| Sarena Jiang Su
2
| Xiaotian Liu
3
1
Research Center For Organizational Marketing, School of Economics and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, P.R.China |
2
Kellogg
School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA |
3
Department of Marketing, School of Business, University of Queensland,
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Correspondence: Zhigang Shou (mkshou@whu.edu.cn)
Received: 21 November 2023 | Revised: 14 October 2024 | Accepted: 14 October 2024
Funding: This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China., Grant/Award Numbers: 72072134, 72272111
Keywords: forestalgia | narrative character | narrative temporal type | nostalgia | self‐construal
ABSTRACT
Marketers often use narrative ads as a powerful tool to shape consumer attitudes. These ads deliver key messages through
storytelling, but what makes a story effective in the eyes of the consumer remains largely unexplored. Using a Facebook field
study and a series of four experimental studies, we examined the interaction between the narrative's temporal type (nostalgia vs.
forestalgia) and the characters' self‐construal (interdependent vs. independent) on consumer attitudes. Drawing on regulatory
focus theory and regulatory fit theory, we found that consumers prefer forestalgia (vs. nostalgia) narrative ads when paired with
an independent (vs. interdependent) character. In addition, this effect was mediated by narrative transportation, which en-
hanced consumers' attitudes toward the ad. These findings advance our understanding of effective narrative advertising and
offer practical insights for marketers by highlighting the importance of aligning the narrative temporal type with the character's
self‐construal to create more impactful ads.
1 | Introduction
Narrative advertising is a popular means of marketing com-
munication. According to a market survey, 92% of consumers
want brands to create advertisements that feel like a story
(Gillett 2014). This preference for storytelling goes beyond mere
engagement; it influences purchase decisions. For instance,
another survey found that 55% of consumers who loved a
brand's narrative were more likely to purchase from the brand
in the future (Bogwasi 2023). Given the persuasive power of
narrative advertising, it is no surprise that industry leaders such
as Apple, Coca‐Cola, and Nike have adopted storytelling as a
strategic approach in their advertising campaigns
(Szymoński 2023). Research has shown that these narrative ads
can effectively convey messages about brands, products, and
services (Wentzel, Tomczak, and Herrmann 2010; Woodside
et al. 2008). However, what makes narrative ads truly impact-
ful? And how can brands create narrative ads that better reso-
nate with their target audience? These questions continue to
call for more research.
In general, a story is comprised of several key elements—
characters, plot, setting, and temporal context (Padgett and
Allen 1997). While previous research has extensively explored
how characters and plots influence narrative advertising effec-
tiveness (see Table 1for details), one critical yet often over-
looked element is the temporal dimension of the story. As
Escalas (2004) points out, narratives unfold over time, making
the temporal element essential to how a story is experienced.
Recent work by Barnwell, Collier and Shanahan (2023)
© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.
1of14Psychology & Marketing, 2024; 1–14
https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22148
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