The Use of Narrative Appeals in Promoting Restaurant Experiences

Because consumers encounter numerous advertising messages from many sources and through various media, hospitality advertisers are increasingly concerned about the effectiveness of their messages. In this article, the author proposes that story-based communication or narratives might offer an attractive new avenue for advertising experiential services such as restaurants. The goal of this experimental investigation was to examine whether consumer expertise interferes with the relative effectiveness of story-based appeals in print advertisements portraying restaurants. Overall, this study’s results suggest that consumers with relatively low familiarity with a restaurant category might prefer appeals based on stories to appeals based on lists of service attributes. Moreover, narrative ads might elicit more emotional reactions toward the ad than ads employing a list format. Consumers with relatively high familiarity with the focal restaurant category, however, might be unaffected by the format of the information presentation.

[1]  John T. Bowen,et al.  Development of a Taxonomy of Services to Gain Strategic Marketing Insights , 1990 .

[2]  T. Graeff.  Comprehending product attributes and benefits: The role of product knowledge and means‐end chain inferences , 1997 .

[3]  Priscilla A. Labarbera,et al.  Matching the Message to the Mind: Advertising Imagery and Consumer Processing Styles , 1998 .

[4]  An assessment of hotel and travel advertising. , 1999 .

[5]  Richard Staelin,et al.  The Effect of Nutritional Information Disclosure in Advertising: An Information Processing Approach , 1984 .

[6]  T. K. Srull,et al.  Category accessibility: Some theoretical and empirical issues concerning the processing of social stimulus information , 1981 .

[7]  G. Laurent,et al.  Measuring Consumer Involvement Profiles , 1985 .

[8]  Willem Frederik van Raaij,et al.  Consumer choice behavior : an information-processing approach , 1977 .

[9]  Gregory William Boller.  Narrative advertisements : stories about consumption experiences and their effects on meanings about products , 1988 .

[10]  Gregg T. Vesonder,et al.  Text generation and recall by high-knowledge and low-knowledge individuals , 1980 .

[11]  A. A. Mitchell,et al.  The Assessment of Alternative Measures of Consumer Expertise , 1996 .

[12]  S. Levy.  Stalking the Amphisbaena , 1996 .

[13]  J. Forgas.  Feeling and thinking : the role of affect in social cognition , 2000 .

[14]  C. Derbaix,et al.  The Impact of Affective Reactions on Attitudes toward the Advertisement and the Brand: A Step toward Ecological Validity , 1995 .

[15]  Herbert Bless,et al.  The interplay of affect and cognition : The mediating role of general knowledge structures , 2000 .

[16]  S. Ratneshwar,et al.  The Effect of Cultural Orientation on Persuasion , 1997 .

[17]  David A. Aaker,et al.  Warmth in Advertising: Measurement, Impact, and Sequence Effects , 1986 .

[18]  Carolyn Tripp,et al.  Services Advertising: An Overview and Summary of Research, 1980–1995 , 1997 .

[19]  Paul J. Feltovich,et al.  Categorization and Representation of Physics Problems by Experts and Novices , 1981, Cogn. Sci..

[20]  Youjae Yi,et al.  Contextual Priming Effects in Print Advertisements: The Moderating Role of Prior Knowledge , 1993 .

[21]  Meryl P. Gardner,et al.  Mood States and Consumer Behavior: A Critical Review , 1985 .

[22]  Daniel Romer,et al.  Using Drama to Persuade , 1989 .

[23]  N. Anderson.  Foundations of information integration theory , 1981 .

[24]  R. Oliver.  Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective On The Consumer , 1996 .

[25]  Alice M. Tybout,et al.  The Moderating Role of Prior Knowledge in Schema-Based Product Evaluation , 1996 .

[26]  R. Schank,et al.  Knowledge and Memory: The Real Story , 1995 .

[27]  Kenneth R. Lord,et al.  Picture-Based Persuasion Processes and the Moderating Role of Involvement , 1991 .

[28]  J. W. Hutchinson,et al.  Dimensions of Consumer Expertise , 1987 .

[29]  Michael J. Firment,et al.  Expertise and categorization , 1987 .

[30]  F. Strack,et al.  Happiness and reminiscing: The role of time perspective, affect, and mode of thinking. , 1985, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

[31]  J. Bettman,et al.  Effects of Framing on Evaluation of Comparable and Noncomparable Alternatives by Expert and Novice Consumers , 1987 .

[32]  D. Gentner,et al.  Structure mapping in analogy and similarity. , 1997 .

[33]  B. Adelson.  When Novices Surpass Experts: The Difficulty of a Task May Increase With Expertise , 1984 .

[34]  Terry L. Childers,et al.  Conditions for a Picture-Superiority Effect on Consumer Memory , 1984 .

[35]  J. Bettman,et al.  Effects of Prior Knowledge and Experience and Phase of the Choice Process on Consumer Decision Processes: A Protocol Analysis , 1980 .

[36]  Eric J. Johnson,et al.  Expertise and decision under uncertainty: Performance and process. , 1988 .

[37]  C. W. Park,et al.  Familiarity and Its Impact on Consumer Decision Biases and Heuristics , 1981 .

[38]  M. Brucks.  The Effects of Product Class Knowledge on Information Search Behavior , 1985 .

[39]  M. Holbrook,et al.  Consumer Responses to Advertising: The Effects of Ad Content, Emotions, and Attitude toward the Ad on Viewing Time , 1991 .

[40]  M. Chi,et al.  The Nature of Expertise , 1988 .

[41]  J. Cacioppo,et al.  The need for cognition. , 1982 .

[42]  Victor Turner,et al.  The anthropology of experience , 1986 .

[43]  M. Sujan,et al.  Consumer Knowledge: Effects on Evaluation Strategies Mediating Consumer Judgments , 1985 .

[44]  J. Edell,et al.  The Power of Feelings in Understanding Advertising Effects , 1987 .

[45]  Dan Padgett,et al.  Communicating Experiences: A Narrative Approach to Creating Service Brand Image , 1997 .

[46]  Susan T. Fiske,et al.  Category-based versus piecemeal-based affective responses: Developments in schema-triggered affect. , 1986 .

[47]  B. Knutson.  College Students and Fast Food— , 2000 .

[48]  S. Fiske,et al.  The novice and the expert: Knowledge-based strategies in political cognition , 1983 .

[49]  Steven P. Brown,et al.  A Meta-Analysis of Relationships between Ad-Evoked Feelings and Advertising Responses , 1998 .

[50]  Terry L. Childers,et al.  Measurement of Individual Differences in Visual Versus Verbal Information Processing , 1985 .

[51]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research , 1977 .

[52]  B. Shiv,et al.  Heart and Mind in Conflict: The Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making , 1999 .

[53]  R. Wyer,et al.  The Role of Narratives in Consumer Information Processing , 1998 .