Narrative Processing: Building Consumer Connections to Brands

2004/01/01 by Jennifer Edson Escalas · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification #Digital Marketing and Social Media #Media Influence and Health

paper · doi:10.1207/s15327663jcp1401&2_19

openalex publication_date 2004/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06

Abstract

This article proposes that narrative processing creates or enhances self-brand connections (SBC) because people generally interpret the meaning of their experiences by fitting them into a story. Similarly, in response to an ad that tells a story, narrative processing may create a link between a brand and the self when consumers attempt to map incoming narrative information onto stories in memory. Our approach rests on the notion that a brand becomes more meaningful the more closely it is linked to the self. We conceptualize this linkage at an aggregate level in terms of SBCs, that is, the extent to which consumers have incorporated the brand into their self-concepts. The results of an experiment show that narrative processing in response to a narratively structured ad is positively related to SBCs, which in turn have a positive relation with brand attitudes and behavioral intentions.

Citations

• Narrative and the Self
• The Persuasion Knowledge Model: How People Cope with Persuasion Attempts
• Explaining the evidence: Tests of the Story Model for juror decision making.
• Evidence evaluation in complex decision making.
• Psychological status of the script concept.
• Possessions and the Extended Self
• Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity
• Possible selves.

Cited by

• Brand authenticity: An integrative framework and measurement scale
• The Impact of Sensory Verbs in Online Reviews on Helpfulness Perception and Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Narrative Processing