The influence of storytelling on the consumer–brand relationship experience

The main purpose of this research is to explore the strategic role of storytelling as a facilitator of the consumer–brand relationship experience through the creation of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses. The hypotheses are tested with a dataset of survey data from 323 Portuguese consumers using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Based on social identity theory, the findings show that storytelling improves consumers’ cognitive responses through consumer–brand identification and stimulates consumers’ emotional responses through brand affective involvement. Moreover, storytelling stimulates behavioural responses through purchase intention, via the mediating role of consumers’ cognitive and emotional responses. The results also show that storytelling generates stronger emotional than cognitive responses, but cognitive responses have stronger effects on behavioural responses. This research contributes to the literature on the strategic role of storytelling in brand management by demonstrating that storytelling is an effective way of improving the consumer–brand relationship experience.