Tom van Laer

The Extended Transportation-Imagery Model: A Meta-Analysis of the Antecedents and Consequences of Consumers’ Narrative Transportation

Stories, and their ability to transport their audience, constitute a central part of human life and consumption experience. Integrating previous literature derived from fields as diverse as anthropology, marketing, psychology, communication, consumer, and literary studies, this article offers a review of two decades worth of research on narrative transportation, the phenomenon in which consumers mentally enter a world that a story evokes. Despite the relevance of narrative transportation for storytelling and narrative persuasion, extant contributions seem to lack systematization. The authors conceive the extended transportation-imagery model, which provides not only a comprehensive model that includes the antecedents and consequences of narrative transportation but also a multidisciplinary framework in which cognitive psychology and consumer culture theory cross-fertilize this field of inquiry. The authors test the model using a quantitative meta-analysis of 132 effect sizes of narrative transportation from 76 published and unpublished articles and identify fruitful directions for further research.

Assessing the Effect of Narrative Transportation, Portrayed Action, and Photographic Style on the Likelihood to Comment on Posted Selfies

Purpose This research’s objective is to reveal why and how consumer photos trigger electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM).Design/methodology/approach Integrating visual semiotics and experiments, this research empirically tests the influence of consumer photos on viewers’ likelihood to comment on the visualized narrative. The experiments involve photos varying in their narrative perspective (selfie versus elsie), portrayed action (no product, no action or action towards consumption), and photographic style (snapshot versus professional).Findings Photos displaying consumption are more likely to be commented on. When these photos are selfies, the effect is exacerbated. The experience of narrative transportation — a feeling of entering a world evoked by the narrative — underlies this effect. However, if a snapshot style is primed, the superior effect of selfies disappears because of greater frivolity of the visualized narrative.Practical implications Managers should be concerned about motivating consumers to take selfies portraying consumption to transport viewers and translate in eWOM. Innovative accessories, such as drones and sticks, may facilitate performing simultaneous acts of consumption and taking a selfie. Managers should also consider the predominant photographic style on social media sites and encourage consumers to take photos that are consistent with the style.Social implications Consumer photos portraying consumption may be used by governmental institutions to educate viewers on how to visualize narratives. To trigger frivolity of the visualized narrative and decrease eWOM, the snapshot style may be used for consumer photos portraying unhealthy behaviours.Originality/value This research is the first to link consumer photos and eWOM. By examining the selfie and snapshot style, this research extends the marketing literature on visual narrative which is mainly focused on company-rather than user-generated content.

A Little Help from My Friends: Assessing the Adjustment of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises to Corporate Social Responsibility

With growing environmental and social awareness, corporations are facing rising pressure to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR); small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are no exception. With operational constraints in resources and time, SMEs may attempt to boost their CSR through external sources. Adopting the perspective of stakeholder theory and drawing from the literature on socialization, this research suggests that the extent to which an SME adjusts to CSR principles mediates the relationship between CSR performance and SME stakeholder knowledge and interaction. This article tests the hypotheses with an online survey of SME owner-managers. The results show a mediating impact of organizational CSR adjustment over and above the direct effects of stakeholder knowledge and stakeholder interaction on CSR performance. The findings also suggest that organizational CSR adjustment directs CSR performance, enabling employees to engage in effective and efficient CSR activities. Theoretically and managerially relevant implications for researchers and SMEs are discussed.

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.

It's the Social, Stupid! Leveraging the 4C Markers of Social in Online Service Delivery

In line with recent theorizing about the nature of social media, we advance four markers of “social” with the potential to extract additional value in service delivery: (1) conversation, (2) content, (3) construction of identity, and (4) community.