Stephanie Feiereisen

Do Story Domain, Number of Storytellers, and Number of Story-receivers Matter in Narrative Persuasion? A Meta-Analysis Expanded

The recent adoption of storytelling to promote harmful products and services indicates that storytelling poses a key business ethics issue. Extant research demonstrates that a story can persuade story-receivers through the experience of narrative transportation. We introduce the business ethics concerns that storytelling raises because of the superior persuasiveness of the narrative transportation effect, stories’ use to promote harmful products and services, and their reach to vulnerable target groups. By means of a meta-analysis, we further show that the narrative transportation effect is strengthened when (1) the story pertains to marketing (vs. other domains), (2) is told by multiple storytellers, and (3) is received by one story-receiver at a time. We also discuss the ethical implications of these moderators.

Which Moderators Matter for Customer’s Evolving Narrative Engagement?

The recent adoption of storytelling to promote harmful products and services indicates that storytelling poses a key business ethics issue. Extant research demonstrates that a story can persuade story-receivers through the experience of narrative transportation. We introduce the business ethics concerns that storytelling raises because of the superior persuasiveness of the narrative transportation effect, stories’ use to promote harmful products and services, and their reach to vulnerable target groups. By means of a meta-analysis, we further show that the narrative transportation effect is strengthened when (1) the story pertains to marketing (vs. other domains), (2) is told by multiple storytellers, and (3) is received by one story-receiver at a time. We also discuss the ethical implications of these moderators.

Lost in Transportation? Implications of Story Domain, Teller, and Receiver for the Narrative Transportation Effect

The recent adoption of storytelling to promote harmful products and services indicates that storytelling poses a key business ethics issue. Extant research demonstrates that a story can persuade story-receivers through the experience of narrative transportation. We introduce the business ethics concerns that storytelling raises because of the superior persuasiveness of the narrative transportation effect, stories’ use to promote harmful products and services, and their reach to vulnerable target groups. By means of a meta-analysis, we further show that the narrative transportation effect is strengthened when (1) the story pertains to marketing (vs. other domains), (2) is told by multiple storytellers, and (3) is received by one story-receiver at a time. We also discuss the ethical implications of these moderators.

Mental Simulation and Consumer Evaluations of Really New Products (RNPs): The Role of Product Type

Kinect, developed by Microsoft, introduces a revolutionary new way to play video games with no controller required. Such groundbreaking innovations are often defined as really new products (RNPs). Despite the benefits offered by such new products, failure rates remain high. It has been suggested that high failure rates are due to consumers’ underestimation of the value of the new benefits (Gourville 2006). Mental simulation is a useful cognitive tool to help consumers understand the benefits of RNPs (Hoeffler, 2003). The objective of this study is to identify a boundary condition to the effectiveness of mental simulations (i.e. product type - utilitarian vs. hedonic vs. hybrid). We draw on the literature on mental simulation (Taylor and Schneider, 1989) and on research on the information processing of hedonic vs. utilitarian benefits (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982) to show that the effectiveness of mental simulation in enhancing responses depends on product type whereby mental simulation only enhances evaluations and intent to use the product when the product is utilitarian.