Digital narratives, consumer engagement, and symbolic value: the application of e-storytelling in artisanal product marketing

Our research examines the symbolic and structural elements of digital narratives that promote consumer engagement, supporting the attribution of symbolic value to artisanal products with cultural identity. Using abductive logic and qualitative techniques, this study analyzed 48 e-storytelling videos about artisanal Minas cheese across three stages: evaluating the plot, analyzing the narrative structure, and assessing consumer comments on social media. The results show that online engagement behaviors are associated with narrative transportation through compelling storytelling, which, in turn, is associated with emotional involvement via affective memory activation and mental imagery within a formal narrative structure. Statistical analyses revealed significant patterns: videos with low commercial intent averaged 9.86 comments compared to 0.33 for high-commercial-intent videos (H = 14.61, p < 0.001). All videos without engagement ( n = 8) exhibited medium-to-high commercial intent and simple narrative arcs. Although limited to videos about a specific product, this study developed two practical tools: a narrative transportation framework for e-storytelling about artisanal products and a video evaluation guide for future research. This research contributes to the marketing literature by identifying associations between behavioral engagement on social media and narrative transportation, and by introducing a video-analysis approach and a framework for creating and evaluating e-storytelling about artisanal products.