Echoing the golden legends: storytelling archetypes and their impact on brand perceived value

ABSTRACT

This article examines the impact of storytelling archetypes on brand value. It first recalls how storytelling is considered an important instrument for cultural brand strategy management. The main theoretical grounds for the effectiveness of brand storytelling (narrative transportation and archetypal psychology) are then presented. Since archetypes are considered central in brand narrative strategy, this research is based mainly on Woodside’s archetype-brand-consumer model. For a functional product (mineral water) and a symbolic product (perfume), the authors designed four storytelling scenarios for a fictitious brand ABC, taking four main archetypal categories as defined in the relevant literature. In two online experiments, consumers were randomly shown one of the four brand stories or one traditional promotional scenario. The scenarios were presented in the form of a series of commented drawings. After viewing the brand stories, the participants were asked to estimate some consumer value measurements. The experiment demonstrates that – for both functional and symbolic products – the use of archetypes can produce positive impacts on brand value, mainly on quality and emotional dimensions. Different archetypes elicit specific feelings towards brands and the narrative persuasion system seems to operate differently according to product type.