Do ads that tell a story always perform better? The role of character identification and character type in storytelling ads
By Laurence Dessart. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 2018
136 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Abstract The growing use of storytelling as an advertising strategy for brands online poses the question of their relative effectiveness compared to more factual types of ads. In this context, this article focuses on the role of character identification and character type in the effects of narrative transportation that occur from storytelling ads. Using four experimental studies in two different contexts, two brand types, and two character types (human versus animal), the findings present a cautionary tale for the use of storytelling. By generating higher levels of narrative transportation, storytelling video ads can reduce character identification, which results in an overall decrease in positive attitude toward the brand, when using animal characters. These main findings are nuanced in the presence of joyful emotions. Implication for research and practice are discussed.
Subfields: Gender Studies, Literature and Literary Theory, Marketing
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f6447a601674944a452812d48174541674a9e66f
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In Gender Studies
In Literature and Literary Theory
In Marketing
Citations in the corpus
- How stories generate consumer engagement: An exploratory study (2019, background): “Advertisers also need to be aware that when they use inanimate objects or animals in ads, the characters might play a lesser role in consumer responses (Dessart, 2018) and hence in CE.”