When distance calls for a story: the mediating role of message authenticity in storytelling-based crisis communication

This study examines how the interaction between crisis type and storytelling in a crisis apology influences message authenticity and company evaluations. Guided by construal level theory and narrative persuasion, a 2 (crisis type: individual vs. societal) × 2 (storytelling use: storytelling vs. non-storytelling) online experiment revealed that storytelling enhanced message authenticity only in societal-level crises. Mediation analyses showed that storytelling affected company attitudes and trust through message authenticity, but only in psychologically distant crises. These findings highlight the role of psychological distance in narrative effectiveness and identify message authenticity as a key mechanism in storytelling-based crisis communication.