The effects of health narratives: Examining the moderating role of persuasive intent

Prior research has indicated that narratives are more persuasive than nonnarrative messages. One of the reasons for this effectiveness is that the narratives’ intention to persuade is often not explicit, thus making them less likely to be disputed. The goal of this research is to examine the moderating role of persuasive intent in narrative persuasion. To do so, we conducted a 2 (Message format: narrative vs. nonnarrative messages) × 2 (Persuasive intent: intent vs. no intent) experiment with a factorial design among 205 participants on the effects of health narrative messages. Results indicated that persuasive intent undermined the effects of health narratives on persuasion by reducing believability and increasing reactance. Both believability and reactance partially mediated the effects of the narrative messages on attitudes and behavioral intention.