Long-term Persuasive Effects in Narrative Communication Research: A Meta-Analysis

By Corinna Oschatz, Caroline Marker. 2020

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This meta-analysis builds on the broad and diverse research on the persuasive effects of narrative communication. Researchers have found that narratives are a particularly effective type of message that often has greater persuasive effects than non-narratives immediately after exposure. The present study meta-analyzes whether this greater persuasive power persists over time. Results are based on k1 = 14 studies with k2 = 51 effect sizes for immediate measurement (N = 2,834) and k2 = 66 effect sizes for delayed measurement (N = 2,459). They show that a single narrative message has a stronger persuasive impact than a non-narrative message on attitudes and intentions at immediate as well as on attitudes, intentions, and behaviors at delayed measurement. Both message types did not differently affect the participants’ beliefs. Meta-analytic structural equation modeling confirms transportation as a mediator of immediate persuasive effects.

Subfields: Communication, Literature and Literary Theory

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1701c48d86481f4f7266103530878c8f7cc05134