Crafting Compelling Narratives: Exploring Three Key Persuasive Drivers and Their Interaction

Prior literature has mainly examined the effectiveness of narrative advertisements (ads) over non-narrative ads, but little research has been done on the key factors that make one narrative ad more persuasive than another. Here, in a study with a sample of four hundred nonstudent participants and real television commercials, we investigate three important drivers that make narrative ads more persuasive. We find that narrative ads are more persuasive when (1) the viewer is able to connect more strongly to the ad, (2) the salience of persuasion intent is low, and (3) there is strong integration of the brand with the ad narrative. We also find evidence of interaction among the variables, in that the negative effects of salient persuasion intent are amplified when brand integration is low. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the findings for advertising theory and practice.