The double-edged sword of storytelling
The impact of brand awareness and narrative transportation in the relationship between storytelling advertising and the consumer’s attitude.
Irene Groeneveld -10649360 Master Thesis
MSc. Business Administration
Entrepreneurship and Management in the Creative Industries Track Amsterdam Business School – University of Amsterdam
21th of June 2018 – final version 1st Supervisor: Dr. A. Tomaselli
Abstract
A concept that can be used as an innovative tool in advertisements is the use of storytelling. Storytelling advertising convinces the audience through the activation of something that is called narrative transportation, a theory that entails that a consumer gets immersed into a story. Previous research found evidence that the use of narrative transportation in advertising could be seen as a double-edged sword, meaning it could lead to either positive or negative effects. Therefore more insight is needed to understand the efficiency of storytelling advertisement and the impact this can bring in relation to the consumer’s attitude. Given the fact that marketers put a great emphasis on creating advertisements that are memorable, this study investigates if the effect between storytelling, narrative transportation and consumer attitude occurs positively through brand awareness. In order to determine to what extent brand awareness and narrative transportation affect the relationship between the use of storytelling and the consumer’s attitude, an online experiment was conducted. A total of 142 respondents were collected (Mage = 33, SD=11,27, 50% woman, age ranging from 17 to 65), that went through one factorial between-subjects experiment. In order to test if this relation occurred, a process analysis 2,16 has been performed through SPSS. Based on the analyses of this thesis it could be concluded that there is no statistic to prove that brand awareness and narrative transportation affect the relationship between storytelling in an advertisement and the consumer’s attitude.
Statement of originality
This document is written by Irene Groeneveld, who declares to take full responsibility for the content of this document. I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it. The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.
Table of contents
1. Introduction ... 4
2. Literature review ... 7
2.1 The use of storytelling in advertising ... 7
2.2 Narrative transportation ... 9
3. Hypotheses building ... 11
3.1 Dimensions of brand awareness ... 11
3.2 Mediating role of brand awareness ... 12
4. Empirical setting ... 17
5. Method ... 19
5.1 Procedure and sample ... 19
5.2 Pre-test ... 21 5.3 Measures of variables ... 23 5.4 Attitude ... 24 5.5 Brand awareness ... 24 5.6 Narrative transportation ... 26 5.7 Control variables ... 26 6. Results ... 27
6.1 Manipulation and randomization check ... 27
6.2 Correlations ... 27
Hypothesis 1 ... 29
Hypothesis 2 ... 30
Hypotheses 3 – the double mediation ... 31
7. Discussion ... 33
7.1 Hypothesis and exploratory analyses ... 33
7.2 Theoretical contributions ... 37
7.3 Managerial implications ... 39
7.4 Limitations and future research ... 40
8. Conclusion ... 42 References ... 43 Appendices ... 53 Appendix 1 ... 53 Appendix 2 ... 55 Appendix 3 ... 56
1. Introduction
The concept of advertising has emerged over the years (Tsang, Ho & Liang, 2014; Taylor & Castello, 2016; Seo, Choi & Yoon, 2018). With the arrival of new digital platforms, it evolved from an informing role about products and services into a highly sophisticated and personal tool of persuasion (Kumar & Gupta, 2016). Interactivity, the overproduction of information and social media radically changed advertising and the way consumers respond to advertising (Marken, 2007; Kumar & Gupta, 2016). This led to difficult challenges for marketers, which led to an increase of investments towards digital advertising (Taylor & Castello, 2016; Lee, Yoon, Chung, Lee & Kim, 2012). This trend did not only increase the advertisement spending but also the number of advertisements (Lee, et al. 2012). Leading to an advertisement
environment with a clutter full of irritating advertisements. The process of digitalization has marketers seek for new and innovative advertising techniques (Li & Lo, 2015). A concept that can be used as an innovative tool in advertisements that works both on traditional and digital media is the use of storytelling (Dessart, 2017). The difference between storytelling
advertising and factual advertising is the fact that it does not focus on the product but tries to highlight the brand's core values through the use of emotional loaded stories. The use of stories in advertisements has the ability to trigger attention, appeal to people and it works more memorable than facts (Twitchell, 2004). Stories have the ability to draw attention (Escalas, 2004a, Mossberg & Johansen, 2006) and to convince the audience through the activation of something that is called narrative transportation, such as a theory that entails that a consumer gets immersed into a story.
Narrative transportation refers to the response that activates during the plot of the story (van Laer, de Ruyter, Visconti, & Wetzels, 2014), and occurs when consumers get immersed and eventually get ‘carried away’ (Wentzel et al., 2010) and reached to point where they detach from reality (Green & Brock, 2000). Previous research (Dessart, 2017) found evidence
that the use of narrative transportation in advertising could be seen as a double-edged sword, meaning it could lead to either positive or negative effects. Successful stories can gain major success, such as Dove’s Real Beauty campaign, that attracted 150m views on YouTube in just a couple of months what indirect effects awareness and loyalty, without talking about the product at all (McSwine, 2013). But it can also go wrong and work contradictorily. One of the most important contributions of the research of Dessart (2017) is that he actually found a negative effect from narrative transportation on the consumer’s attitude towards the brand. According to research (Dessart, 2017), this occurs when the transportation works to powerful, resulting in consumers think about a different world and forget about reality. However it was found in previous research (Van Lear, et al., 2014), that storytelling tends to be more effective regarding long-term attitude and intention because of this narrative processing. Therefore more insight is needed to understand the efficiency of storytelling advertisement in comparison to the factual advertisement and the impact this can bring in relation with the consumer’s attitude (Wentzel, Tomczak & Hermann, 2010).
In the recommendation for future research, Dessart (2017) included some variables that could help to get a better understanding about the effects of storytelling advertisements. One of these variables was brand awareness, which refers to the fact whether and when the consumer thinks of the brand. Previous research (Percy & Rossiter, 1992) points out that the concept of brand awareness is often forgotten regarding research of advertising strategy. This can be crucial because brand awareness is the capability to recognize or recall a specific brand within different situations. It discusses the possibly a specific brand element comes to mind and if the consumer actually knows about the existence of the brand (Keller, 1993).
Consumers cannot form an applicable judgement or attitude when they are not even aware of the brand (Aaker, 1991). Given this fact, marketers put a great emphasis on creating
effect between storytelling and consumer attitude occurs through the activation of narrative transportation and brand awareness and if both narrative transportation and brand awareness have a positive impact on consumer attitude (Dessart, 2017). Much research on storytelling and its activation on narrative transportation have been explored but no research has been done consisting the effect of brand awareness.
This study looks at the possible effect of brand awareness and what it could do within the relation of storytelling and attitude. In light of the absence of existing research on
advertising and the use of storytelling and brand awareness, the role of this study is to complement the gap in existing literature. Doing this by trying to give a better insight into how brand awareness can advance our understandings about the attitude towards storytelling framed advertising and the narrative transportation the consumer’s experiences. Thus, this study aims to answer the following research question:
To what extent do narrative transportation and brand awareness affect the relationship between storytelling and the consumer’s attitude?
To answer this research question an online experiment was conducted. Within this
experiment, two different advertisements were used that originated from the same brand (due privacy reasons the brand is mentioned in this thesis as brandX). Respondents were randomly assigned to one of the two videos. After the exposure, all the respondents had two answers a questionnaire that measured brand awareness, attitude and narrative transportation. After the experiment different analyses were made to answer the research question. Based on the analyses of this study it could be concluded that there is no prove that brand awareness and narrative transportation affect the relation of storytelling in advertisement and the consumer’s attitude. The following chapters of this study provide an extensive description of how this conclusion was formed.
This thesis is built as followed. In the first section literature about storytelling advertisement and narrative transportation is introduced. Secondly, the different hypotheses get illustrated, using previous brand awareness literature as a foundation. At the end of this section, the conceptual model is introduced, leading to the next section, the methodology. In this part, the empirical setting is explored and explained why this setting fits the thesis best. In the method section, the different variables are measured and an extensive explanation of the conducted experiment is given. In the result section the analyses that were used are outlined. Followed by the discussion part including managerial implications, theoretical contributions, limitations and suggestions for future research. The last section consists of a conclusion part where a general conclusion is given.
2. Literature review
2.1 The use of storytelling in advertising
The current digital situation, where an abundance of information occurs (Sicillia & Ruiz, 2010) and where consumers are currently downloading multiple ad-blockers (Kelly, Kerr & Drennan, 2010), led to difficult challenges for marketers. Companies need to create advertisements that consumers actually want to see rather than seeing them as annoying interruptions. Advertisements need to ‘stand out’, in order to out-run being avoided. A concept that can be used as an innovative tool in advertisements that works both on traditional and digital media is the use of storytelling (Dessart, 2017). The difference between storytelling advertising and factual advertising is the fact that it does not focus on the product but tries to highlight the brand's core values through the use of emotional loaded stories. Stories have the ability to catch attention (Escalas, 2004a, Mossberg et al., 2006), and to convince the audience through the activation of something that is called narrative transportation, a theory that entails the fact that the consumer gets immersed into a story.
Stories help consumers understand the core values that a brand is communicating, they are less critically analysed and they provoke less negative thoughts than regular advertisements (Escalas, 2004a, p38). They have the ability to trigger attention, appeal to people and it works more memorable than facts (Twitchell, 2004). ‘Where lectures tend to put people to sleep, stories move them to action’ (Woodside, Sood & Miller, 2008, p1). A story is built chronologically through an arrangement of clips and portrays one or more characters, through a plot, climax and ending (Van Lear, et al., 2014; Padget & Allen, 1997).
In comparison with factual advertising, storytelling advertisements do not frame the use or consumption of products (Padget & Allen, 1997). Storytelling advertisements have the possibility to create a strong emotional connection with the audience (Woodside, et al., 2008). When a brand chooses a story, it has the ability to communicate a related element that is valued by consumers (Shankar, Elliot & Goulding, 2001). Well-executed stories have the possibility to influence the consumer’s brand experience, which consists out of sensations, feelings, cognitions and behavioural responses regarding all brand-related elements (Lundqvist, Liljander, Gummerus & van Riel, 2013). Stories and storytelling can be used to achieve a deep understanding of the relationship between the consumer and the brand (Woodside, et al., 2008). Using this concept could be a powerful tool for advertisers to engage with consumers, based on research in consumer behaviour (Woodside, et al, 2008).
However, more insight is still needed to understand the efficiency of storytelling advertisement in comparison to the factual advertisement and the impact this can bring in relation with the consumer’s attitude (Wentzel, Tomczak & Hermann, 2010). According to the research of Baltas (2003), attitude can be important measurement component of social media advertising success. Fishbein and Ajzen (1975), define attitude in their theory of reasoned action as “a learned predisposition of human beings”. Based on these predispositions
people react to ideas, objects or another type of phenomenon. Fisbein and Ajzen (1995), emphasize trough their theory of reasoned action that attitudes influence the behaviour.
Storytelling advertisements are thus the opposite of factual advertisement, which communicates information about the facts of a product in a direct, fact-based way (Adaval & Wyer, 1998, Wentzel et al., 2010). These differences in format also lead to different types of processing in the mind of the consumer. Factual advertisements are processed in an analytical way, they tend to be persuasive and require active engagement from the consumer throughout the communicated message (Deighton, Romer & McQueen, 1989; Escalas, 2007). On the opposing side, there are advertisements framed with the use of storytelling, these advertisements do not have a persuasive core but rather work effectively. These advertisements are processed in a narrative way and are more likely to enable the consumer to be immersed and carried away throughout the communicated message (Escalas, 2004a). According to several scholars in consumer behaviour people rather think narratively than argumentatively (Adaval & Wyer, 1998; Hirschman, 1986; Holt, 2004; Padgett & Allen, 1997; Bruner, 1991; Schank & Abelson, 1997; Weick 1995, p.127). Storytelling tends to be more effective regarding long-term attitude and intention because of this narrative processing. This narratively way of thinking gets entailed through a phenomenon called narrative transportation. Narrative transportation refers to the response that activates during the plot of the story (van Lear et al, 2014), and occurs when consumers get immersed and eventually get ‘carried away’ (Wentzel et al. 2010) and reached to point where they detach from reality (Green & Brock, 2000).
2.2 Narrative transportation
The narrative transportation theory by Green and Brock (2000) is a distinct route to persuasion where an individual is carried away by a story. According to this theory (Seo, et al., 2018) people are ‘narratively transported’, what effects an adjustment of their attitudes
and intentions to reflect the particular story. Narrative transportation happens when an individual experiences a sensation or feeling of entering the world that is shown in the narrative (van Laer, Ruyter, Visconti & Wetzels, 2014). The individuals lose themselves in the story, the phenomenon of getting ‘carried away’ and forgetting their own reality (Green, 2008). The case with advertisements is that they communicate information about a product or brand, through a story like format (Deighton, Romer & McQueen, 1989; Wentzel, Tomzak & Hermann, 2010) and through this narrative transportation gets activated with the result of the audience getting ‘carried away’ (Escalas, 2004a). Advertisements are marked as a narrative if they depend on a chronologically and causally related arrangement of clips in a way to portray one or more characters that consume, create or use the product or service (Padget & Allen, 1997).
Narrative transportation is a common concept in the field of advertising research (Seo, et al., 2018; Wentzel, Tomczak & Hermann, 2010). In prior research, it is found that when it appears that consumers feel highly transported in the context of a story, they form a positive attitude towards the advertisement (Escalas, 2004b). According to van Laer, de Ruyter, Visconti, and Wetzels (2014) the use of stories also increases beliefs and intention. Previous research (Green & Brock, 2000) shows that the change in these beliefs and attitudes occurs because individuals that are ‘narrative transported’ base this change on information or events that was shown in the story. According to Escalas (2014), these feelings created by narrative advertisements are considered more positive than with factual advertisements. Previous research (Dessart, 2017; van Laer, et al., 2014; Escalas, 2014) shows a range of consequences related to the use of narrative transportation in an advertisement, but this occurs not only to be positive.
One of the most important contributions of the research of Dessart (2017) is that they found a negative effect from narrative transportation on character identification and indirectly
on the consumer’s attitude towards the brand. Stories are made up through the use of multiple characters that all have own features and emotions (Padgett & Allen, 1997). Therefore, people are likely to feel with them and to experience the story through them (Escalas & Stern, 2003; Oatley, 1994). Characters, therefore, have the possibility to play an important role in the process of the audience getting immersed into the story and therefore relates to the success of storytelling and the activation of narrative transportation (van Laer, et al., 2014).
Engaging the consumers in the total brand experience is one of the core goals of marketers. The study of Dessart (2017) therefore warns about the dangers of consumers getting ‘too much carried away’, resulting in them forgetting that they are consumers. This makes it interesting, according to previous research (Dessart, 2017) to look at the concept of brand awareness. Given the fact that marketers focus a great deal on the advertisement being memorable, the concept of brand awareness might entail a positive effect instead. It is important that consumers are aware of the brand before the brand can even try to engage with them. Brand awareness is interesting to explore because ‘standing out’ and a consumer even being aware (Rotfeld, 2002) is the core goal of using a story-framed advertisement and therefore it is interesting to look at this concept of brand awareness and the changes it can possibly make within the relationship between the use of storytelling in advertising and the consumers attitude.
3. Hypotheses building
3.1 Dimensions of brand awareness
Brand awareness refers to the fact whether and when a consumer thinks of the brand. Together with brand image, what consist of the overlapping associations a consumer has about a brand it forms brand knowledge. Brand knowledge is a valued fact for brands because it can measure the consumer value through the use of multiple concepts (Keller, 2016). In previous research, brand awareness has been used to build upon resulting in a relationship
between the brand and the consumer. The first stage of this possible relationship is brand awareness (Keller, 2016). This concept is all about the brand’s identity, ‘who they are’ and ‘why does the consumer think of you’ (Keller, 1993). Before the consumer can form a valuable or judgement or positive attitude they need to be aware of the brand (Keller, 2016; Aaker, 1991). The brand needs to be included in the consumer's consideration set therefore it must be easy or salient to think of the brand when the product category is named (Keller, 1993). If it is not the case, consumers still prefer a brand that is familiar (Pae, Samiee & Tai, 2002). When a brand is strongly present in the consumer’s mind and when it raises a high awareness, it is more likely that the consumer will action to purchase (Aaker, 1991).
Brand awareness is the association with the brand in the consumer's memory. It can be measured by brand recall and brand recognition. Recall reflects too the number of cues needed to think of the brand. It is about the ability to retrieve or activate an association from the brand when given a particular cue, like the product category. Brand recognition is the ability to think of the associations after the consumer is already exposed to some primary brand elements like the brand's particular jingle (Keller, 2016). Brand recognition is defined as ‘the consumers capability to confirm their prior exposure to the brand when given the brand as a cue’ (Keller, 1993 in Wang & Yang, 2010, p179). Brand awareness is not only the brand name, but can be associations as the colour, shape of packaging, jingle or other distinctive brand elements (Rossiter & Percy, 1991).
3.2 Mediating role of brand awareness
Research shows that people rather think narratively (Adaval & Wyer, 199; Hirschman, 1986; Holt & Thompson, 2004; Padgett & Allen, 1997; Bruner, 1990; Schank & Abelson, 1997; Weick 1995, p 127), what makes the consumers store much brand-related information in the form of narratives as well. These narratives are stored in the consumer’s memory in different ways, factually, visually and emotionally. The theory of narrative transportation activates this
visual element and making it likely that consumers will remember them (Mossberg, Nissen, & Johansen, 2006; Lundqvist et al., 2012). The best way to access this type of knowledge is by reproducing this story, showing a story-framed advertising might help as a cue retrieving brand information (Woodside, 2010). According to research showing a story-framed advertising activates the narrative transportation, this generates more positive feelings and is perceived as more convincing than factual advertising what does not activate the narrative transportation (Lundqvist et al., 2012; Kaufman, 2003). Prior research shows that this convincing part of stories is more likely to raise awareness than factual advertisements (Kaufman, 2003; Kelley & Littman, 2006; Mossberg, Nissen & Johansen, 2006). The use of storytelling, what activates narrative transportation, attracts more attention toward the advertisement what creates more awareness among the audience that factual advertisements do (Green & Brock, 2010; Schneider & Cornwell 2005). Stories fascinate individuals and are often more easily remembered than facts (Lundqvist, et al., 2012). Advertising agencies focus a great deal on advertisements being memorable and therefore should focus a great deal on the brand awareness (Dessart, 2017). Moreover, storytelling can also be used to achieve a deep understanding of the relationship between the consumer and the brand (Woodside, et al., 2008). Previous researches (Keller, 2016; Lundqvist, et al., 2012) highlight this relationship and have entailed brand awareness as the first stage of this possible relationship.
Narrative transportation, activated through exposure to storytelling in advertising works more effective, convincing, attracts more attention and is more easily remembered than facts. This all leads to a higher brand awareness (Lundqvist, et al., 2012; Kaufman, 2003; Kelley & Littman, 2006; Mossberg, Nissen & Johansen, 2006). Stories are used to build a relationship between the consumer and the brand. It can even be used to express brand values. It is therefore assumed that the narrative transportation the consumers activate during
exposure to storytelling in advertising would lead to positive brand awareness. To test this assumption the following hypothesis is formed:
H1: The narrative transportation that a consumer experience during exposure to a storytelling advertisement positively affects the brand awareness.
According to research, the concept of brand awareness is often forgotten in advertising strategy (Percy & Rossiter, 1992). This is crucial because brand awareness is the capability to identify a specific brand within a category. It describes the possibility that a brand element (name, jingle, colour etc.) comes to mind and it relates to the ease and strength an element is considered (Keller, 1993). Consumers cannot form an applicable judgement or attitude when they are not even aware of the brand (Aaker, 1991). Brand attitudes are important because they shape the base of the consumer behaviour (Keller, 1993). According to research (Keller, 1993) attitudes can be formed through believes and symbolic benefits, but also through ‘extrinsic cues’, what describes the fact that consumers use brand elements to evaluate the brand. When a consumer is more aware of a particular brand it is likely that the elements in his memory come up easier than those of a less aware brand. These brands extrinsic cues are therefore more likely to be evaluated. Therefore it is assumed that higher brand awareness during exposure to a storytelling advertisement leads to a higher attitude. To test this assumption the following hypothesis is stated:
H2: The level of brand awareness during exposure to a storytelling advertisement can positively affect the consumer's attitude toward the advertising.
It is assumed that the use of narrative transportation, that consumers experience during storytelling advertisements leads to brand awareness. It is also assumed that brand awareness leads to a higher attitude. Therefore, it must be explored if brand awareness mediates in any form between the relation of storytelling, narrative transportation and attitude.
Previous research, (Dessart, 2017) shows that the effect of narrative transportation occurs negatively on the attitude through the mediation of identification. This happens when the transportation is perceived as too powerful. Resulting in the consumer getting carried away into the narrative world and fails to realize their own reality, including themselves as consumers. This supports previous research (Hirschman, 1983) that explains the fact that consumers use brands as a tool to escape their own reality. However, if consumers use brands to escape their own reality they need to be aware of these brands. When a brand applies the use of stories in advertisements, it can activate the right cues that are associated with the brand awareness (Lundqvist, et al., 2012). A powerful transportation could therefore not harm the brand awareness. Previous research (Rotfeld, 2002), entails the fact that standing out, and a consumer even being aware of the advertisements are one of the core goals of using storytelling in advertising. Found in research is that the use of stories is more easily remembered than factual elements (Lundqvist, et al., 2012). Therefore, when consumers are carried away and forget about their own reality, it is likely they would remember this event and therefore remember the advertising (Lundqvist, et al., 2012). Since brands focus a great deal on advertisements being more memorable (Dessart, 2017), the mediating part of brand awareness is an important concept to explore. Most research ignores the fact that brand awareness could play a mediating role in the purchasing process of the consumer. Only a few studies have clarified a causal relationship among brand awareness and other brand relation variables (Liu, Liu & Lin, 2015). According to research (Aaker, 1991), it is more likely that consumers create a positive judgement of a brand if they are familiar with it. When an individual raises awareness, they are capable to fulfil meaning to a brand, to its specific performance and the personal characteristics (Hsu, Oh & Assaf, 2011). Therefore, previous research (Hsu, Oh & Assaf, 2011; Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993) states that a positive attitude
can be created through the brand awareness. Especially when individuals are aware of the positive qualities a brand establishes (Keller, 1993).
Brands that imply storytelling in their advertising focus a great deal on their brand being memorable (Dessart, 2017), this leads to a higher level of brand awareness (Mossberg, Nissen, & Johansen, 2006; Lundqvist et al., 2012). A high level of brand awareness creates a positive attitude (Keller, 1993). Therefore, it is assumed that the effect of narrative transportation, activated through storytelling in advertising, on the consumer’s attitude occurs positively through brand awareness. In order to test the assumption, the following hypothesis is formed:
H3: The level of brand awareness mediates positively between the relationship of the narrative transportation, which consumers experience through exposure to storytelling advertisement, and the consumer’s attitude.
In Figure 1 all discussed topics and their related hypotheses are graphically displayed. Before any of these hypotheses can be tested, in the following chapter the research design of this study will be outlined.
Figure 1: Conceptual model
4. Empirical setting
In this thesis, the fashion industry is used as the empirical setting. This indicates that the hypotheses will be tested within the fashion industry through the use of fashion advertisements. The following section will provide information about the fashion industry and entails why this empirical setting fits within the relation of storytelling, narrative transportation, brand awareness and attitude.
Recent years, fashion companies invested a large part of their advertisement budget towards online content (Taylor & Costello, 2017). The entire industry is worth over $1.75 trillion and it is still radically increasing (Maloney, 2015 in Taylor & Costello, 2017). The average consumer is exposed to hundreds of advertisements and brands a day (Mirande, 2012: Mohart, Malär, Guèvremont, Girardin & Grohmann, 2015). This exposure is the result of
commercialization (Mohart, et al., 2015). What in the fashion industry is called fast fashion, a wide range of brands that offer products with the goal to sell as much as possible. These brands operate with no core values and are meaningless market offers. A way for consumers to overcome this is to seek for authentic brands (Mohart, et al., 2015). Authenticity is according to previous research (Gilmore and Pine, 2010), one of the most important purchase criterions. In the fashion industry, a lot of brands are seeking to be authentic, and this originates not only from the designers but also from the marketing teams. One reason the fashion industry fits within this thesis is because a marketing tool that can be used to communicate authenticity is the implementation of stories (Shankar, Elliot & Goulding, 2001). According to the head of marketing at Calvin Klein (Adweek, 2015), the use of storytelling can open a world of creativity in the fashion industry. When a brand implies a story the right way, it can have the ability to communicate a related element that is valued by consumers (Shankar, Elliot & Goulding, 2001). Additionally, telling a story is all about making the emotional connection (Adweek, 2016). According to Jimmy Choo’s head designer, “Everything needs to start with a story, the story will give the collection a framework – the beginning, the content and the end (BoF, 2016).
Next to the fact that stories can be used to communicate the authenticity in the fashion industry, it is also found in prior research (Phillips & McQuarrie, 2010) that narrative transportation can be a response to fashion advertising. This occurs through the aesthetic properties that are used within this industry. According to research, fashion imagery can create hopeless fantasies just by looking at it (Belk, 2001), and as found in research this occurs hundreds of times a day (Mirande, 2012: Mohart, et al., 2015).
Given the fact that consumers pay more attention to a message shared on social media (Dessart, 2016; Kannan & Li, 2017; Zhang, Moe & Scheidel, 2017), the choice was made to focus on advertisements coming from the platform Facebook. Social media offer features
related to advertising that are not available on other media channels. For example, the fact that advertising can be paused and replayed at any time (Roberts, 2016) and the ability to like and share (Seo, et al., 2018). Social media platforms appear to be a relevant ground to explore brand-related stories and for identification and identity seeking processes through exploring these brands (Hollenbeck & Kaikati, 2012; Hundson, Huang, Roth & Madden, 2015). Chu (2011) concludes that Facebook offers a rich and effective platform for delivering efficient messaging. Therefore, advertisements on Facebook are taken into consideration in this study.
5. Method
In order to determine to what extent brand awareness and narrative transportation affect the relationship between the use of storytelling and the consumer’s attitude and to test the different hypotheses, an online experiment was conducted. With this method, it is possible to find causality between the independent variable (the type of advertising: storytelling or factual), and the dependent variables (brand awareness, narrative transportation, and brand
attitude) (Hart, Boeije & Hox, 2010).
The following paragraph starts by providing information about the experiment containing sampling, the procedure and an explanation of the different conditions. Next, the information gained from the pre-test gets clarified. Finally, the questionnaire of every mediator will be introduced, highlighting the reliably scales and pointing out the validity measures for every variable.
5.1 Procedure and sample
In order to test the hypotheses, an experiment was conducted. A one factorial between-subject design experiment with two levels was used, a storytelling condition and a factual advertisement control condition. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions. Both videos were originated from the same brand and were tested in a pre-test
(paragraph 5.2). The videos and the full descriptions are attached in Appendix 1. With the help of this pre-test, it could be established if the stimulus material occurred the intended effect.
Participants were recruited on a voluntary basis by a convenience sample. On the social media page Facebook a link was shared to reach possible respondents. Willing participants could click on a link to access the questionnaire. Amazon Mechanical Turk was also used to gain around 100 respondents to answer the survey. Respondents that filled out the survey trough Mturk, were paid €0,20 when finishing the questionnaire. Found in research of Barry and Phillips (2016), both man and woman process fashion advertising the same and therefore I target both sexes but use gender as a control variable. In addition, research of Stephens (1981) found that attitude towards mass media differs between young, middle-aged and old people therefore this study uses age as a control variable. In previous research of Dessart (2017), a negative relation was found between narrative transportation and attitude through the mediation of identification with the character. This research explores if the concept of brand awareness could have a positive effect instead within this specific relation. However to explore if identification could still occur a negative effect within the relation of brand awareness, narrative transportation and attitude it was used as a control variable.
Within the questionnaire, the video is played in a Facebook-like format. The program that was used to create and complete the survey was Qualtrics this program gives respondents the ability to enlarge the size of the font to improve readability. Respondents were assured of confidentiality and were not compensated for their participation. In the research, a fake ‘research goal’ was explained to control social desirable answers.
A total of 142 respondents were collected (Mage = 33, SD=11,27, 50% woman, age ranging from 17 to 65). Thirteen respondents did not meet the requirements for the study, for this reason, they were excluded from further analyses. It was checked through statistics
whether any outliers occurred in the retrieved data collection. This showed that there was one outlier on the independent variable storytelling. Therefore this outlier was excluded for further analyses. The results below only relate to the other 128 participants.
5.2 Pre-test
The independent variable was the use of storytelling and was named ‘type of advertising’. This variable was manipulated, and therefore it was tested whether the stimulus material had the actual intended effect. Four different videos were collected, all coming from the same brand. Two videos were framed more as a storytelling advertisement and two videos more as a factual advertising, see Appendix 1. Through the pre-test, the different videos got distinguished through their mean scores on narrative transportation. The video with the highest score was going to be used in the later conducted experiment as the ‘storytelling condition’ and the video with the lowest mean was used as the ‘factual advertising condition’.
The participants (N=40) were exposed to all the four videos. Because video material was used from an existing brand it was not possible to have videos that were identical. Through the design program Adobe Premiere Pro the four videos were edited to be more similar. After the editing, the videos had the same background music and duration. After the respondents participated in the experiment, they got a debriefing. In this debriefing, I stated that I edited the advertisements and that the video they just saw, was not the original video made and used by brandX. The complete debriefing can be found in the appendix (Appendix 2).
The first pre-test (N=32), showed a difference in the results of the storytelling condition (n=16, M=12,97, SD=1,3) and the factual advertising condition (n=22, M =11,87, SD=1,4). However this result was not significant t(29,6)=0,5,4 ,p=0,592. Therefore it was chosen to edit new stimulus material and to conduct another pre-test.
Appendix 1 shows a detailed description of the four edited videos used in the pre-test. Respondents of the pre-test (N=32) went through one factorial within subject-design. The respondents (N=32) got assigned to all the four videos. After each video, the respondents had to answer questions that test if the stimulus material actually intended the wishing effect. The wishing outcome is that the storytelling advertisement leads to narrative transportation and the factual advertisement does not. The questions after the video were intended to measure the activation of narrative transportation (2017). The questions measuring the activation of narrative transportation were found in research of Dessart (2017) and based on previous studies (“I was mentally involved in the ad,” “While thinking about the ad, I could easily picture the events in it taking place,” and “I could picture myself in the scene shown in the ad; Escalas, 2007; Green & Brock, 2000). Respondents could answer these questions through a 4-point Likert-scale. According to Worcester and Burns (1975), a scale without a mid4-point goes against social desirability bias without changing the direction of the opinion.
After retrieving around 30 respondents the data was measured through the program SPSS Statistics 20.00. All the components measuring narrative transportation were made into on average scale called ‘narrative transportation’. A factor analysis was performed to state if these items were measuring narrative transportation the right way. There was an eigenvalue found higher than 1 (eigenvalue =2,17). Through the use of Cronbach’s alpha, it was measured if the four items also shaped a reliable scale. This was the case (a=0,81). Next, a one-sample t-test by means was performed. This means that the different results on narrative transportation of all videos were compared. See the results in the table below:
Table 1: Results pre-test
RESULTS PRETEST MEAN Std. Deviation
1. Storytelling advertisement ‘Candy’ 3,29 0,55 2. Factual advertisement ‘Candy gloss’ 1,53 0,43 3. Storytelling advertisement II ‘The therapist’ 3,83 0,27 4. Factual advertisement II ‘SS/2011’ 1.52 0,70
The results in the table show that the third advertisement ‘the therapist’ scores the highest on the narrative transportation scale (M=3,29, SD= 1,52), this result was also significant t(29)=76,81,p=<0,005. The fourth video ‘SS/2011’ scores the lowest on the narrative transportation scale (M=1,52, SD=0,70) this was also significant t(29)=11,93, p=<0,005. Therefore the third video ‘the therapist’ is used in the real experiment within the storytelling condition and the fourth video ‘SS2011’ within the factual advertisement condition.
5.3 Measures of variables
Storytelling in advertising was the independent variable and gets manipulated into two categories. The first category was an advertisement with the use of storytelling and the second category was a control condition that uses an advertisement with factual elements. The difference between storytelling advertising and factual advertising is the fact that it does not
focus on the use of consumption of products but tries to highlight the brand's core values through the use of emotional loaded stories. Through measure the independent variable in SPSS it was shaped into a dummy variable named ‘type of advertisement’. Zero (0) represented the control condition, the factual advertisement, and one (1) represented the storytelling advertisement. Brand awareness and narrative transportation were mediators and were measured through different scales. Lastly, brand attitude was the dependent variable also measured through a scale (MacKenzie & Lutz, 1989).
5.4 Attitude
After the video, all respondents completed the same questionnaire. In order to avoid sequence effects, the dependent variable got measured first (Dessart, 2017). Respondents had to rate their brand attitude, based on three different statements (I found the advertisement, positive; good; favourable, MacKenzie & Lutz, 1989; Q9,1-Q9,3). These items were measured separately through a 7-point Likert-scale. A 7-point Likert-scale was used to enhance the fact that respondents give a neutral answer (Mattel & Jacoby, 1972). The questions were based on existing scales (MacKenzie & Lutz, 1989) found in the research of Dessart (2017). Through the program SPSS Statistics version 20.00, the different components got merged in an average scale measuring the consumer attitude. Through a factor analysis, it was stated if the different components measured the same variable of ‘attitude’. There was an eigenvalue found higher than 1 (eigenvalue=2,57) that measured 85,6% of the total variance. There was a reported Cronbach’s alpha of a=0,92, that showed that the different items are shaping a highly reliable scale.
5.5 Brand awareness
The concept of brand awareness refers to a cue in the consumer’s mind, and it can be reflected by the ability to recognize the brand within different context or situations (Rossiter & Percy, 1987). Awareness can affect perceptions and attitudes. In some cases, it can even be the driver
of the brand choice and create potential loyalty because brand awareness is an important construct of the total brand equity (Aaker, 1996). Brand awareness is the salience of the brand in the customer’s mind (Aaker, 1996), and it consists out of two components, recognition and recall. Brand awareness was measured by adapting Oliver and Bearden (1995) three-item differential scale (Cronbach’s alpha, a=0,78) to measure brand recognition and a one-item recall measure suggested by Aaker (1996) to measure recall. According to Keller (1993), brand recall refers to whether the consumer can retrieve the brand from their memory when one cue as the product category is given. Before the video started, the recall element of brand awareness got measured. This got measured through a one-item recall measure suggested by Aaker (1996). One cue, the product category was mentioned in the question and the respondents had to answer ‘what brands do you think of within the luxury fashion industry?’. A dummy variable was created, where zero (0) represented ‘did not name the brand’, and one (1) represented ‘named the brand’. The question that measures the recall element was asked before the measurement of narrative transportation, therefore it could not operate as something mediating, but was used as a control measurement.
Brand recognition is the consumer’s capability to confirm prior exposure to the brand when given the brand as a cue (Keller, 1993). After seeing the video, this component of brand awareness got measured. This was done by adapting the three-item differential scale found in the research of Oliver and Bearden (1985) (‘The brand in the advertisement is familiar’, ‘I know the brand in the advertisement’, ‘I’m informed by the brand in the advertisement’). After collecting all responses, a Varimax rotation through a factor analysis was conducted to examine the similarities between the items. There was an eigenvalue found of 2,1. The factors had a Cronbach’s alpha of a=0,78 and were a reliable measurement of brand awareness.
5.6 Narrative transportation
Narrative transportation was measured using a three-item scale (“I was mentally involved in the advertising,” “While thinking about the advertising, I could easily picture the events in it taking place,” and “I could picture myself in the scene shown in the advertising, Escalas, 2007; Green & Brock, 2000). In order to test the validity and reliance between the scales and measures, a reliability- and factor analysis was followed. Cronbach’s alpha of a=0,80 was measured. The factor analysis correlation had all items above 1 (eigenvalue=2,2) that were good for 72,3% of the total variance.
5.7 Control variables
Based on previous literature about storytelling three variables were used as control variables: gender, age and, identification. In this experiment, the variable ‘identification with the character’ was controlled because based on the research of Dessart (2017), there was a negative effect from narrative transportation on character identification and indirectly on the consumer’s attitude towards the brand. According to Dessart (2017), this occurs when the transportation works to powerful, resulting in consumers thinking about a different world and forgetting about reality. In order to conclude if this variable did any harm to the relation measured in this thesis, it was controlled within this experiment. Respondents completed a four-item scale of consumer identification from Curras-Pérez, Bigné-Alcaniz, and Alvarado-Herrera (2009). The items adapted for the study were “The way I am fits in with what I perceive of that character,” “I am similar to what I think that character represents,” “I am similar to how I perceive that character,” and “The image I have of that character overlaps with my self-image”. These items were measured separately through a 7-point Likert-scale (Mattel & Jacoby, 1972). A Cronbach's alpha of a=0,81 was measured. This means that the scale forming identification was highly reliable. A factor analysis was conducted to examine if the items measured the same variable of ‘identification’. There was an eigenvalue found
higher than 1 (eigenvalue=2,69). The control variable gender was measured by asking which category applies to you (male, female, neutral) and age was measured through an open question.
6. Results
6.1 Manipulation and randomization check
Before any hypothesizes were tested, the data was explored if anything needed to be recoded or changed. The answer scales of question number seven (The way I am, fits in with what I perceive of that character), was stated differently than the other question in the questionnaire and therefore recoded through SPSS. Through different questions (Q1: ‘Name five brands in the luxury fashion industry’; Q25: ‘What was the brand behind the advertisement?’) the manipulation was checked if the respondents took enough time for the questionnaire. Based on these results 13 respondents were made missing in the dataset. Their results were not taken into consideration for further analysis. A randomization check of Qualtrics has been done, this succeeded. The variable gender showed a chi-square test,χ2(1)=0,71, p=0,789. This means there are no significant differences between male and female in the different conditions. This means every condition the male/female ratio is quite similar. The same has been done for age. This showed a chi-square test of χ2(37)=46,04, p=0,146, this means there are no significant differences between the age of the participants in the different conditions. The variable age in the conditions is similar.
6.2 Correlations
Table 2 shows the overall correlation matrix, containing all the variables of the conceptual model and the control variables. Through the correlation it can be assumed that type of advertising (storytelling or factual) not significantly correlates with any of the other variables (attitude: r=0,13, p>0,05; brand awareness: r=0.04, p>0,05; narrative: r=0,1, p>0,05). This
suggests that type of advertising not made a significant difference on the other variables; this result goes against the assumptions. Through the correlation matrix it can also be derived that attitude correlates positively with brand awareness, narrative transportation and the control variable identification, all these correlations are positive (brand awareness: r=0,27, p<0,05, narrative: r=0,62, p<0,05; identification: r=0,48, p<0,05). This means that when someone scores higher on brand awareness, narrative transportation or the control variable identification, they score higher on attitude as well. Narrative transportation and brand awareness do not correlate significant (r=0,15, p>0,05). The control variable identification also correlates significantly positive with narrative transportation (r=0,47, p<0,05), when someone scores higher on identification, his or her narrative transportation score gets higher as well. In the correlation table, it is clear that gender has no effect on any of the variables. The other control variable age has a significant negative effect (r= -0,3, p<0,05) on the control variable identification. When the participant’s scores one point higher on age, so when people get older, they tend to score -0,3 lower on identification with the character.
Table 2 – Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Matrix between Measures
Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Attitude 4,93 1,46 1 2. Brand Awareness 5,5 1,14 0,273** 1 3. Narrative transport 4,87 1,43 0,618** 0,154 1 4. Type of advertising 0,52 0,5 0,134 0,048 0,101 1 5. Identification 3,92 1,16 0,476*** 0,007 0,471*** 0,004 1 6. Age 32,94 11,27 -0,103 -0,002 -0,054 -0,001 - 0,0302** 1 7. Gender 0,5 0,5 0,071 0,158 0,142 0,031 -0,005 0,078 1
In order to test the hypothesises a process analyses has been performed through SPSS. The specific process model that was used in SPSS was process 2,16 model 6 (Hayes, 2013). In order to perform this, some criteria needed to be checked. Based on the performed analyses the dependent variables needed to be normally distributed, this means skewness between -2 and +2 (George & Mallery, 2010). This is important for the upcoming analysis.
Table 4, descriptive per subgroup
Variables Mean SD Skewness Kurtosis Storytelling advertising 1. Attitude 5,12 0,18 -0,93 0,69 2.Brand awareness (Recognition) 5,56 0,14 -1,56 3,4 3.Narrative Transportation 5,01 0,18 -0,69 0,03 Factual advertising 1. Attitude 4,73 0,18 -0,66 -0,28 2.Brand awareness (Recognition) 5,45 0,14 -1,42 5,5 3.Narrative Transportation 4,72 0,18 -0,56 5,01
Based on the above table there is a normal distribution in all groups. This means there are no other factors influencing the results.
Hypothesis 1
By testing the first hypothesis the effect of narrative transportation on brand awareness has been explored. Based on previous literature narrative transportation is activated through the perception of storytelling advertising. This activation is led by the narrative transportation
theory by Green and Brock (2000). It is seen as a distinct route to persuasion where an individual is carried away by a story. In order to test this, a one-way ANOVA was done. There was no statically significant effect of ‘type of advertising’ on narrative transportation found F(1, 126)=0,12, p=0,26. A participant exposed to the storytelling advertisement scored higher (M=5,01, SD=1,42) on the narrative transportation scale than participants exposed to the factual advertisement (control condition) (M=4,72, SD= 1,45) this difference was not significant (p=0,26). To test if narrative transportation predicts the brand awareness a regression analyses through process model 6, retrieved from Hayes (2013) was performed in SPSS, plus controlling for gender, identification and age. Looking at the process analysis, it points out that the overall regression model was not statistically significant F(4,122)=1,23, p=0,29. Derived through the process analysis, there is no significant relationship between the indirect effect of type of advertising on attitude, through narrative transportation and brand awareness. The type of advertising did not significantly relate to narrative transportation. According to the process analyses, narrative transportation does not relate to brand awareness (a3=0,134, p=0,1028). In this case, there was controlled for gender identification and age. Gender did not significant predicted the brand awareness, b=0,31, t(122)=1,50, p=0,14 neither did age b=-0,003, t(122)=-0,293, p=0,77 nor identification, b=-0,079, t(122)=-0,76, p=0,45.
Hypothesis 2
In order to test if brand awareness predicts the variance of attitude towards the brand, a regression analysis was conducted. The overall regression model was statistically significant F(1,121)=17,92, p<0,001. Brand awareness statically significant predicts the variable attitude, with a significant Beta value (b=0,26 t(121)=2,95, p<0,005). In other words, if the respondent’s brand awareness increases with 1, their attitude towards the ad increases with 0,26. In this case, there was controlled for identification with the character, gender and, age. This made the total model explain 9% if the variance in attitude towards the advertising F(3,
125)=4,123, p<0,0. Gender did not significant predicted the attitude b=0,04, t(125)=0,45, p=0,65 neither did age b=-0,01 t(125)=-1,21, p=0,23. Identification with the character significantly predicts the attitude b=0,32, t(121)=3,24, p<0,005. This means that if identification with the character increases with 1, their attitude towards the advertisement increases with 0,32.
Hypotheses 3 – the double mediation
The third hypothesis tests the mediation effect. This effect is based on four assumptions. First the independent variable, in this case, storytelling in advertising, must significantly affect the outcome when the mediators are not included. Second the mediator must significantly affect the outcome; this is tested through hypothesis 2, and statistically significant. Third, the predictor must significantly affect the mediator; this is tested through hypothesis 1, and not found significant. Lastly, the effect of the predictor on the outcome must decrease when the mediator is taken into consideration (Baron & Kenny, 1986). The independent variable must have no effect on the dependent variable when the mediators are taken into consideration through a full mediation, or the effect should become significantly smaller through a partial mediation (Baron & Kenny, 1986).
In order to test if the mediation occurred, a regression analysis with process 2.16, model 6 in the program SPSS is performed (Hayes, 2013). The outcome variable is the attitude, the independent variable is the use of storytelling in advertising, the other variables are narrative transportation and brand recognition, and the variables identification, age, and gender are controlled. The total model, including identification age and gender predicted the variance for R2=47%, this was not significant F(4,123)=1,40, p=0,24. The direct effect of ‘type advertising’ on attitude was insignificant c’=0,195, t(122)=0,965, p=0,33.6. Next to the direct effect, three other indirect effects could occur within the conceptual model. The first indirect effect is the specific effect of storytelling on narrative transportation and the increase
of brand attitude. This indicates that participants, who are exposed to the storytelling advertising, activate narrative transportation and therefore increase their score on attitude. However an insignificant result is found within the first relation between ‘type of advertising’ and narrative transportation (a1=0,27, p=0,27), the further relation between narrative transportation and attitude was indeed statistically significant (b1=0,596, p<0,001). This indirect effect can be interpreted as insignificant (indirect effect 1= 0.165, SE = 0.154, CI: -0,132 to - 0.486).
The second indirect effect is the effect of type of advertising on attitude, mediated through both narrative transportation and brand awareness. The type of advertising did not significantly relate with narrative transportation. According to the process analysis, narrative transportation did not relate to brand awareness (a3=0,104, p=0,15), but brand awareness further did increase the attitude towards the brand (b2=0,238, p<0,01). This specific indirect effect is insignificant (indirect effect 2 = 0.007, SE = 0.01, CI: -0.015 to .10418). The third indirect effect relates to the specific effect of type of advertising on attitude indicating through the brand awareness, however, this relation was not taken into consideration within the conceptual model. It was found that the type of advertising did not relate significantly with the brand awareness (a2=0,069, p=0,73), which in turn did significantly associated with a higher attitude (b2=0,238, p<0,01). Because the first effect was not significant the total indirect effect is seen as insignificant (indirect effect 3 = 0,017, SE = 0,049, CI: -0,072 to 0,133).
The third indirect effect was not taken into consideration in the conceptual model. Gender and age were both taken under control, none of these made a significant difference (Gender: b=0,41, t(123)=1,62, p=0,11; Age: b=-0,01, t(123)=-0,74, p=0,46). The control variable identification with the character did make a significant difference (b=0,61, t(123)=5,95, p<0,001). This means that identification with the character predicts the attitude
towards the advertisement. The total overview of process 2.16, model 6 and the mediation analysis can be found in table 5, a visual description of the conceptual model and all the results can be found in Appendix 3.
Table 5. Results regression analyses Model 6,
Consequent
M (Narrative) M (Brand awareness) Attitude
Antecedent Coeff. SE p Coeff. SE p Coeff. SE p
X(Condition) a1 0,27 0,25 0,27 a2 0,069 0,2 0,73 c' 0,195 0,202 0,336 M
(Narrative) -- -- -- a3 0,104 0,07 0,15 b1 0,596 0,071 0,00** M
(BrandAw) -- -- -- -- -- -- b2 0,238 0,09 0,009**
Constant iM1 4,796 0,4237 <0,001** iM1 4,82 0,479 <0,00** Iy 0,964 0,1391 0,6473
R2=0,0337 R2=0,043 R2=0,4245
F(3,124) =1,44, p=0,234 F(3,124 =1,44, p=0,2375 F(3,124) =1,44, p<0,001 Notes * = p < 0,05 and ** = p < 0,01
7. Discussion
7.1 Hypothesis and exploratory analyses
In this study, it was needed to explore the concepts of brand awareness and narrative transportation in relation to storytelling advertising and attitude. Based on the theory about storytelling advertising and the activation of narrative transportation three hypotheses were assumed. Firstly, it was expected that narrative transportation induced by storytelling, would
affect brand awareness. Secondly, it was expected that brand awareness would affect the consumer’s attitude positively leading to the third hypothesis it was expected that brand awareness and narrative transportation mediate the relation between on one side storytelling and on the other side consumer attitude. However, no evidence was found to support the three
hypotheses.
The first hypothesis was based on the following theoretical assumptions. Firstly it was found in previous research, that the use of stories in advertisements works more efficiently and is easily remembered comparing too factual advertising. The use of storytelling generates positive feelings and is more convincing than a factual advertisement. This all leads to a higher brand awareness (Lundqvist, et al., 2012; Kaufman, 2003; Kelley & Littman, 2006; Mossberg, Nissen & Johansen, 2006). Stories are used to build upon a relationship between the consumer and the brand. Brand awareness is the first stage within this relationship. It is therefore assumed that the use of stories in advertising, that activates the narrative transportation, would lead to a more positive brand awareness. And lastly, it was assumed that storytelling in advertising and narrative transportation attracts more attention and therefore creates more awareness among the audience (Green & Brock, 2010; Schneider & Cornwell 2005). In this research, since HP1 was not supported it was not statistically proven that the use of storytelling activates narrative transportation, and that narrative transportation affects the brand awareness.
A possible reason that this result was not significant is because in the experiment a Facebook format was used. This leads to different outcomes than traditional advertising. The use of social media has brought a change in the way brands interact with their customer base (Dhaou, 2014). Consumers are not only better informed but also better connected with the rest of the world (Vries, Gensler & Leeflang, 2012). The use of social media is currently shaped in the daily basis of consumers. With traditional advertisements, it is already sort of accepted
that there is a use of advertisements. With social media advertisements it is still an on-going process. Social media offers features related to advertising that are not available on other media channels. For example the fact that advertising can be paused and replayed at any time (Roberts, 2016) and the ability to like and share (Seo, et al., 2018). This pause and replay function can damage the activation of narrative transportation because it could slow the process of being ‘carried away’ down.
The first hypothesis was not supported, because narrative transportation did not get activated within the consumers that were exposed to the storytelling advertisement. Therefore this could not affect the brand awareness. Based on the correlation matrix, no relation was found either between narrative transportation and brand awareness. A possible explanation for this is that the fact of being ‘carried away’ distracts the focus on the brand. This is similar to the phenomenon that happens with a flow experience (Hoffman & Novak, 1996). A flow experience happens when consumers are involved in a seamless moment leading in self-consciousness. Because a social media platform was used, a flow experience allows consumers to focus on an alternative reality (Bussele & Bilandzic, 2009). This occurs when brands use storytelling and do not present any products in the advertisement. This could be a possible reason for consumers not recognizing the brand leading to low brand awareness, since recognition is one of the concepts brand awareness is build on. According to the correlation matrix (table 2), brand awareness did correlate positively with the attitude, through HP2 it is analysed how this effect occurred. Further the results show that the control variable identification with the character correlated with narrative transportation. This is in line with the previous research of Dessart (2017), where they warn about the dangers of using storytelling. Because no statistically significant results came out of this thesis, it is still not clear if brand awareness could lead to a better or positive attitude when storytelling is used.
The second hypothesis can be partially accepted because it found a statistically significant result. This hypothesis was founded on the theoretical assumptions that consumers are more likely to create a positive judgement or attitude if they are aware of the brand (Aaker, 1991). This thesis offers significant evidence through HP2, that brand awareness did positively predict the attitude. However, in HP2, it is taken into consideration that brand awareness should occur when consumers were exposed to the storytelling advertising. Within this research this did not occur, therefore the significant effect found through, HP2 does not contribute to the research question.
The third hypothesis was the analyses of the mediation effect. Because the first hypothesis was rejected, this mediation could not occur. This mediation hypothesis was founded on several theoretical assumptions. Brands focus a great deal on their advertisements being memorable. Therefore it was assumed that brands that use stories in their advertisements activate the right cues that are linked to recognition or recall and therefore the brand awareness (Lundqvist, et al., 2012). It was assumed that a powerful transportation therefore could be mediated by the concept of brand awareness. When consumers are carried away too much and forget about their own reality, it is likely they would remember this event and therefore remember the advertising (Lundqvist, et al., 2012). However, the mediation could not occur because the independent variable, in this case, storytelling in advertising did not significantly affect the outcome, attitude. Next, there was no significant effect found from the first mediator narrative transportation on the second mediator of brand awareness. Both mediators, however, did significantly affect the attitude. The predictor, storytelling advertisement, did not significantly in any way affect the brand awareness nor the narrative transportation. Therefore the effect of storytelling could not decrease when the mediators were taken into consideration (Baron & Kenny, 1986). A possible explanation for these insignificant results is that in an online environment, the concept of narrative transportation
