"Being Hooked" By Editorial Content: The Implications for Processing Narrative Advertising

Abstract

Processing narratives demands sufficient cognitive resources; therefore, the effectiveness of narrative advertising depends on individuals' cognitive capacities. In contexts where cognitive capacity was constrained by processing narrative editorials, narrative advertising was less likely to transport and "hook" readers or evoke empathy. The relative effectiveness of narrative and argument advertising was also moderated by editorial content. When reading narrative magazine articles, participants failed to take argument strength into account when evaluating a subsequent ad. In addition, the superior effectiveness of narrative advertising compared to argument advertising in terms of generating more favorable cognitive responses, warm feelings, and positive ad and brand attitudes did not emerge when participants read narrative articles. In contrast, when reading facts-based articles, participants elaborated more on the subsequent ad and took argument strength into account. In this condition, narrative advertising was able to be processed and, as a result, was more effective than argument advertising.