Purpose

Brand storytelling is an effective marketing tool. However, when choosing whether to tell more or tell less, it remains unclear which of these two narrative styles is most effective. This study aims to examine whether blank-leaving(less) leads to favourable brand attitudes and compares its effects on consumers’ story immersion, to non-blank-leaving(more).

Design/methodology/approach

Two experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses. In Study 1, a single-factorial design was used with 252 participants assigned at random to one of two narrative conditions: blank-leaving or non-blank-leaving. Study 2 replicated Study 1 and investigated the moderating role of implicit mindsets.

Findings

The results show that a blank-leaving narrative style increases favourable brand attitudes. Consumers present deeper immersion in the brand story that uses blank-leaving, as compared to non-blank-leaving, leading to a more favourable brand attitude. Furthermore, this effect is stronger for individuals with growth mindsets.

Practical implications

Telling the brand story using a blank-leaving narrative style is more effective in catching consumers’ attention than non-blank-leaving. In particular, a blank-leaving narrative is a good approach for targeting consumers who have a growth mindset.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to investigate and compare the effects of blank-leaving and non-blank-leaving narrative styles on brand attitudes in the context of storytelling marketing.

中文翻译：

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说多还是说少？留白叙事风格对故事沉浸感和品牌态度的影响

目的

品牌故事讲述是一种有效的营销工具。然而，在选择讲多还是讲少时，这两种叙事风格中哪一种最有效仍不清楚。本研究旨在探讨留白（较少）是否会带来良好的品牌态度，并比较其与不留白（较多）对消费者故事沉浸的影响。

设计/方法论/途径

进行了两个实验来检验这些假设。在研究 1 中，采用单因素设计，252 名参与者被随机分配到两种叙述条件之一：留白或非留白。研究 2 重复了研究 1，并研究了内隐思维模式的调节作用。

发现

结果表明，留白的叙事风格会增加有利的品牌态度。与非留白相比，使用留白的消费者能够更深入地沉浸在品牌故事中，从而产生更有利的品牌态度。此外，对于具有成长心态的人来说，这种影响更为强烈。

实际影响

用留白的叙事方式讲述品牌故事比不留白更能有效吸引消费者的注意力。特别是，留白叙述是针对具有成长心态的消费者的好方法。

原创性/价值

据作者所知，本研究首次调查并比较了讲故事营销背景下留白和非留白叙事风格对品牌态度的影响。