Effects of narratives and parasocial interaction on consumer behavioral intentions

ABSTRACT

Drawing upon parasocial interaction theory, this paper examines the impact of narratives. A randomized experiment (N = 365) is reported in which a company spokesperson in a televised news interview is questioned about a scandal. The spokesperson replies to the journalist with (a) on-topic narratives, (b) off-topic narrative spinning, or (c) nonnarrative information. Multiple mediator modeling indicates nonnarrative information most effectively bolsters the audience’s purchase intentions and reduces negative word-of-mouth. The effect is mediated by parasocial interaction reducing counterargument. Viewers react most adversely to off-topic narrative spinning.

KEYWORDS:

• Parasocial interaction (PSI)
• news interview
• media spokesperson
• narrative
• spin

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Clementson (Ph.D., Ohio State University) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. Beatty (Ph.D., Ohio State University) is a Professor in the Communication Studies Department in the School of Communication at the University of Miami.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David E. Clementson

David E. Clementson (Ph.D., Ohio State University) is Assistant Professor of Public Relations at the University of Georgia. His articles have been published in Journal of Communication, Political Psychology, and a variety of other journals, and his research has been featured in Scientific American, Newsweek, Fox News, the Associated Press, HuffPost, Yahoo News, K-Love, the New York Post, NBC, ABC, CBS, and New York magazine.

Michael J. Beatty

Michael J. Beatty (Ph.D., Ohio State University) is Professor of Communication Studies, and holds a joint appointment in Psychology, at the University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL). His articles have been published in Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, and a variety of other journals, and he served as Editor of Communication Research Reports and Communication Monographs.