The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of public narratives.

Abstract

Transportation was proposed as a mechanism whereby narratives can affect beliefs. Defined as absorption into a story, transportation entails imagery, affect, and attentional focus. A transportation scale was developed and validated. Experiment 1 (N = 97) demonstrated that extent of transportation augmented story-consistent beliefs and favorable evaluations of protagonists. Experiment 2 (N = 69) showed that highly transported readers found fewer false notes in a story than less-transported readers. Experiments 3 (N = 274) and 4 (N = 258) again replicated the effects of transportation on beliefs and evaluations; in the latter study, transportation was directly manipulated by using processing instructions. Reduced transportation led to reduced story-consistent beliefs and evaluations. The studies also showed that transportation and corresponding beliefs were generally unaffected by labeling a story as fact or as fiction.

Argument Strength and the Persuasiveness of Stories

“…Empirical research has repeatedly demonstrated the power of narratives to persuade recipients, even if the stories were introduced as fictional (e.g., Appel & Mara, 2013; Green & Brock, 2000; Prentice, Gerrig, & Bailis, 1997). Narratives often engage the recipient and transport him or her into the world of the story ( transportation ; Gerrig, 1993; Green & Brock, 2000). This state of transportation, rather than the elaboration of arguments (cf., Petty & Cacioppo, 1986), is considered to play a key role in narrative persuasion.…”

“…Stories entail the actions and experiences of one or more protagonists and a plot line with certain schematic elements (e.g., setting, event, attempt, reaction, and consequence; Rumelhart, 1975). In recent years, empirical research has demonstrated that fictional as well as nonfictional narratives can have a pervasive impact on attitudes and beliefs about real-world issues (narrative persuasion; e.g., Green & Brock, 2000; Prentice et al, 1997), on knowledge and memory (Fazio & Marsh, 2008; Marsh, Meade, & Roediger, 2003), and on social abilities and personality (Fong, Mullin, & Mar, 2013; Mar & Oatley, 2008). In some of these studies the stories as a whole or their main narrative arc suggested a particular stance toward a topic (e.g., a story about a psychiatric patient who murdered a child led recipients to have more negative beliefs about the group of psychiatric patients; Green & Brock, 2000).…”

“…In recent years, empirical research has demonstrated that fictional as well as nonfictional narratives can have a pervasive impact on attitudes and beliefs about real-world issues (narrative persuasion; e.g., Green & Brock, 2000; Prentice et al, 1997), on knowledge and memory (Fazio & Marsh, 2008; Marsh, Meade, & Roediger, 2003), and on social abilities and personality (Fong, Mullin, & Mar, 2013; Mar & Oatley, 2008). In some of these studies the stories as a whole or their main narrative arc suggested a particular stance toward a topic (e.g., a story about a psychiatric patient who murdered a child led recipients to have more negative beliefs about the group of psychiatric patients; Green & Brock, 2000). In other studies, the stories included assertions that were not a key element of the plot (e.g., Appel & Richter, 2007; Dahlstrom, 2010; 2012; Prentice et al, 1997).…”

“…The potency of stories to change a recipient’s worldview and his or her attitudes has been attributed to the situational state of being transported into the story world ( transportation ; Gerrig, 1993; Green & Brock, 2000; or narrative engagement ; Busselle & Bilandzic, 2008, 2009). The term transportation is based on the metaphor that recipients undertake a mental journey when reading a book or watching a movie.…”

“…After this journey, they return to real life somewhat changed by the story events. When highly transported, “all mental systems and capacities become focused on the events occurring in the narrative” (Green & Brock, 2000, p. 701). The resulting mental state has been conceptualized as a co-activation of attention, imagery, and emotion (e.g., Green, 2004; Green & Brock, 2000).…”