The consumption of dark narratives: A systematic review and research agenda

Research on dark narratives has focused on various contexts and products. Different perspectives, theories and methods have been applied during the last twenty-five years. The multi-disciplinary nature of the studies and the different approaches lead to a need for research to clarify the definition, classify the types of dark narratives, recognize consumers' motivations, and identify antecedents and consequent behavior. We conducted a systematic review of 128 published works on dark narratives. Based on the review, this paper presents a structured overview of research in different fields, the contexts where the consumption of dark narratives has been examined, and the theories and methods used. Based on this review, we provide a revised definition, a structured classification of dark narratives and a synthesis of prior findings. Finally, we present a future research agenda.