TY - JOUR
T1 - The psychological mechanisms of persuasive impact from narrative communication
AU - Shen, Lijiang
AU - Seung, Suyeun
AU - Andersen, Kristin K.
AU - McNeal, Demetria
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, the authors.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - This paper develops and tests a comprehensive psychological model of how narrative messages persuade. In this model, perceived realism and perceived similarity are considered as the antecedents of narrative engagement variables. There are three forms of narrative engagement, transportation, identification, and parasocial interaction, which are conceptualized as the primary mediating mechanisms. Message elaboration and psychological reactance are proposed as the secondary mediating mechanisms. A web-based study (N = 374) was conducted to test this complex model. Four video clips on sexual health topics from wellknown television series were used as the stimuli. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analyses showed that perceived realism and perceived similarity were antecedents of narrative engagement. There was conceptual overlap between the narrative engagement variables, but they remained distinct from each other. There was no unique effect on persuasion from parasocial interaction. There was evidence for direct effects on persuasion from transportation and identification, as well as their indirect effects through reducing psychological reactance. However, message elaboration was found to be negatively associated with message perception. Implications for narrative communication in general and future studies were discussed.
AB - This paper develops and tests a comprehensive psychological model of how narrative messages persuade. In this model, perceived realism and perceived similarity are considered as the antecedents of narrative engagement variables. There are three forms of narrative engagement, transportation, identification, and parasocial interaction, which are conceptualized as the primary mediating mechanisms. Message elaboration and psychological reactance are proposed as the secondary mediating mechanisms. A web-based study (N = 374) was conducted to test this complex model. Four video clips on sexual health topics from wellknown television series were used as the stimuli. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analyses showed that perceived realism and perceived similarity were antecedents of narrative engagement. There was conceptual overlap between the narrative engagement variables, but they remained distinct from each other. There was no unique effect on persuasion from parasocial interaction. There was evidence for direct effects on persuasion from transportation and identification, as well as their indirect effects through reducing psychological reactance. However, message elaboration was found to be negatively associated with message perception. Implications for narrative communication in general and future studies were discussed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044762086&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85044762086&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.24434/j.scoms.2017.02.003
DO - 10.24434/j.scoms.2017.02.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85044762086
SN - 1424-4896
VL - 17
SP - 165
EP - 181
JO - Studies in Communication Sciences
JF - Studies in Communication Sciences
IS - 2
ER -