Are Positive Narratives a Possible Marketing Tool? Preliminary Insights from Narrative and Cognitive Psychology

Narrative thought is a predominant cognitive mode of understanding used by consumers to interpret experience (and hence brand features and value). But what is the potential value of good news – a positive narrative presenting individuals doing heroic, generous or good acts for reasons – as a possible positive marketing tool? Using the recent outcomes of narrative and cognitive psychology the authors discuss the possible effects of good news on the personal experience of consumers with a brand at both cognitive and social level. They draw on the Narrative Practice Hypothesis and on the Positioning Theory to suggest that good narratives – in opposition to negative ones – are the main tool individuals use to make sense of intentional actions and to give sense to actions and tools. For this reason they have two immediate and measurable effects on our emotional states – Elevation and Transportation – that, if connected to a brand, may have an impact on the consumer response to it in terms of enhanced consumer brand engagement. The authors finally propose a preliminary conceptual model of the potential effects of positive narratives on consumer brand engagement and provide two exploratory managerial examples of recent positive marketing strategies aimed at enhancing consumer brand engagement leveraging on media transportation and elevation effects.