Skip It or View It: The Role of Video Storytelling in Social Media Marketing

Given more consumer control over exposure to content on social media, marketers are seeking ways to engage consumers with videos. One way to overcome challenges with content engagement is to focus on video execution style. Based on the narrative processing framework, this research examines the role of video storytelling in social media. The study exposed respondents to YouTube ads with either a straight-sell (n = 133) or storytelling (n = 140) execution style. Results show the superiority of storytelling video ads over straight-sell video ads on several consumer responses: attitude toward the brand, positive word of mouth, sharing, promoting, and viewing (rather than skipping the video ad). Purchase intention did not differ between video execution styles. Additional findings suggest order effects and social media usage effects based on video execution style. Implications for both marketing theory and practice, limitations, and future research on video storytelling in social media are discussed.