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Tourism Management

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Effect of a brand story structure on narrative transportation and perceivedbrand image of luxury hotelsKyungin Ryua,∗, Xinran Y. Lehtoa, Susan E. Gordona, Xiaoxiao Fuba School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University, 900 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USAb Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida, 9907 Universal Blvd, Orlando, FL 32819, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O

Keywords:Brand storyStory structurePerceived brand imageNarrative transportationNarrative immersionLuxury hotel

A B S T R A C T

People are better suited to understand stories than arguments. This research examined the influence of a nar-rative transportation approach on luxury hotel consumers’ perceptions of brand image, using a variety of brandstory structures. This study measured the effect of brand story structure on brand image and the mediating roleof narrative transportation. Data was obtained via a 2× 2×2 experiment, and a crafted brand story of afictitious luxury hotel brand, with eight structurally varied versions. The results suggest that a well-structuredbrand story has the potential to enhance brand image, mediated by narrative transportation.

1. Introduction

Humans are naturally better suited to understand stories than ar-guments (Lundqvist, Liljander, Gummerus, & Van Riel, 2013; McKee &Fryer, 2003; Woodside, 2010). For luxury hotels, stories are especiallyessential in their brand voices, as they place great emphasis on emo-tional bonds (Walls, Okumus, Wang, & Kkun, 2011). Among manyluxury hotels, branding has been managed from a product perspective,with messages oriented towards the functional benefits of their pro-ducts or services, such as enhancing the physical presence of the hotelfacilities (Bailey & Ball, 2006; Kimpakorn & Tocquer, 2009). The highquality of hotel facilities may bring satisfaction to consumers but tendnot to be effective in differentiating a brand, because such physicalaspects can easily be imitated by competitors. In fact, consumers oftenfind brand choices confusing when selecting from the plethora of high-quality facilities (Gibson, 2003; So, King, Sparks, & Wang, 2013).

Rather than the facility-oriented approach, Mossberg (2008) sug-gests that hotels utilize storytelling as a vehicle for brand differentia-tion. Research has shown that luxury hotel consumers evaluate a brandmore favorably when brand elements are delivered in story-basednarratives rather than in logic-based advocacies for functional attri-butes (Hamby, 2014). This storytelling strategy can be powerful andadvantageous, as luxury hotels aspire to communicate symbolic bene-fits to prospective guests (Chen & Rothschild, 2010). However, brandstories have not been fully utilized by luxury hotel brands. Even thoughbrand stories of five-star hotels are frequently posted on their officialweb pages, only 8% of the stories are well structured, as noted by a

recent study by Ryu, Lehto, Gordon, and Fu (2018a). Consumers maynot be immersed in the brand story due to a minimal presence of per-suasion and causality (Velleman, 2003). The structure of a brand storycan influence the extent of consumers' narrative transportation, whichis a combination of cognitive absorption, imagery, and immersedemotions based on events in a story (Escalas, 2006). When told well, abrand story can transport the reader into the narrative world, poten-tially inducing favorable responses (Wang & Calder, 2006). A priorstudy found that a well-structured brand story ensures successful nar-rative transportation (Escalas, 2004a; 2004b; 2006). Therefore, it ismeaningful to investigate how brand story structural factors may en-hance individuals’ narrative transportation and how narrative trans-portation enhances perceived brand image of a luxury hotel brand.

Applying the brand storytelling perspective, this study investigatesthe effect of brand story structure on perceived brand image in theluxury hotel setting. Although perceived brand image of luxury hotels isnot a new topic (Baloglu & Pekcan, 2006; Kim & Kim, 2005; Kimpakorn& Tocquer, 2009; Mazanec, 1995), limited research has investigated theeffect of brand storytelling on perceived luxury hotel brand image. Thispaper represents a pioneering effort to examine the effect of brand storystructure on narrative transportation in a brand story within the realmof luxury hotels. The specific objectives of this study were:

(1) To empirically investigate the influence of a brand story structure(emplotment, historical connection, and first-person narration) onconsumers' perceptions of brand image and on narrative transpor-tation.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.10.021Received 29 May 2018; Received in revised form 6 September 2018; Accepted 14 October 2018

∗ Corresponding author. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University, 900 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA.E-mail address: [email protected] (K. Ryu).

Tourism Management 71 (2019) 348–363

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(2) To examine the role of narrative transportation in mediating therelationship between brand story structural elements and perceivedbrand image.

2. Literature review

2.1. Brand stories in luxury hotels

Brand stories have been utilized by luxury hotels to exhibit au-thenticity or to arouse consumer brand fantasy (Mossberg, 2008). Abrand story refers to a firm-originated story with contents about a brandinitiation (Mossberg & Johansen, 2006; Spear & Roper, 2013). Story-based messages inspire luxury hotel consumers due to their psycho-graphic characteristics of high expectations on a hedonic multisensoryexperience (Dhar & Wertenbroch, 2000; Walls et al., 2011). The mostprominent features of luxury hotel consumers are their hedonic pursuit(Joseph-Mathews, Bonn, & Snepenger, 2009) and symbolic consump-tion (Sondoh, Omar, Wahid, Ismail, & Harun, 2007). A hedonic con-sumer is more sensitive to the servicescape and accepts more pleasurefrom information containing multiple sensory cues than a utilitarianconsumer (Joseph-Mathews et al., 2009). Therefore, the hedonic con-sumers are particularly well-suited for emotional involvement instorytelling imagery inspired by a brand story (Jani & Han, 2015),which has the potential to extend a hotel experience into entertain-ment, exhibitionism, and evangelizing (Holbrook, 2000).

Luxury hotel consumers with hedonic and symbolic pursuits tend toseek brand stories that create experiences which appeal to their emo-tions and fantasies (Silverstein & Fiske, 2003). Storytelling can evokeinternal imagery that stems from emotional response, memory of a pastexperience, and innate fantasy, and brings pleasure through the mentalactivities it stimulates (Lageat, Czellar, & Laurent, 2003). In order toextend consumers’ mental pleasure, a luxury hotel brand needs totangibilize its brand story along all brand touch points consistently andeffectively (Passikoff, 2006).

Despite the importance of storytelling in luxury hotels, storytellingwas found to be under-utilized. Ryu et al. (2018a) noted in their studyof luxury hotel brands that only 50 out of 118 luxury hotel brands hadsome elements of brand storytelling. Although many brands do tellstories, not all stories are compelling enough to create a distinctivebrand identity. Most hotels’ stories were found to have insufficientstructural elements to create a compelling brand story (Ryu et al.,2018a). For example, some brand stories listed numerical informationwithout a causality of events, and some failed to present historicalconnections between a brand and a story. Therefore, most brands haveyet to create and present their brand stories in ways that can commu-nicate brand essence, vision, and value in a memorable and compellingway to consumers (Batey, 2015).

Based on Tobias's (2011) classification, Ryu et al. (2018a) foundthat the most-used master plot in luxury hotel brand stories is the“transformation” plot, followed by the “adventure” plot, and the“pursuit” plot. In addition, many brands included more than one plottype in their brand story. According to Tobias (2011), the “transfor-mation” plot includes four key contextual components: content aboutthe brand's struggles at the beginning, a search phase to solve theproblems, a solution, and a transformation (Ryu et al., 2018a). Theadventure and the pursuit plots were also common because these plotsare useful in emphasizing how hotel founders achieved success despiteobstacles.

Although empirical studies regarding the effect of brand stories onconsumers’ responses are scarce, the managerial interest in a brandstory has been strong (Lundqvist et al., 2013). Strong brands havebrand values in their stories and represent the story through their ser-vicescape, which thereby extends the story (Baker & Boyle, 2009).Brand storytelling has the unique potential to go beyond sharing in-formation and to resonate with consumers at a deeper level (Barsky &Nash, 2002).

2.2. Brand story structure

Many brands have their own stories, but telling a good story isimportant to build a strong brand (Huang, 2010). A well-structuredstory can convey the meaning of a brand to consumers and helps people“decompose events and experiences into smaller pieces for easy pro-cessing” (Huang, 2010, p. 309). Hence, telling a brand story by em-ploying a proper structure can be a powerful way to deliver brandmessages and build relationships. Brand messages, appropriately nar-rated, help people make sense of and retain the information the brandpresents them.

Although various content elements have been suggested for acompelling story (Boje, 2014; Denning, 2006; Dowling, 2006; Mathews& Wacker, 2007; McKee & Fryer, 2003; Ryu et al., 2018a), there is noone-size-fits-all set of content elements for all plot types. Stern (2003)proposed a set of structural elements of a compelling brand story, whichcan be applied to various plot types and can encompass heterogeneouscontextual elements. To investigate the effects of brand story structure,Stern's (2003) theory provides an appropriate framework for testing theeffectiveness of structural elements that might enhance narrativetransportation and ultimately result in a favorable brand image.Therefore, this study draws upon Stern's (2003) suggestion of threestructural elements of a compelling brand story to investigate the telling(emplotment), the tale (historical connection), and the teller (narrativevoice), and investigates their influence on narrative transportation andperceived brand image.

2.2.1. Telling: emplotmentEmplotment is essentially “the assembly of a series of events into a

coherent narrative within a plot” (Kent, 2015, p. 482). Consumers areaffected by stories because a plot composes events with a beginning,middle, and end, as an essential element of the thematic setting(Russell, 2002; Stern, 2003). This structural element makes a storycompelling because of its strong organization of historical events in anintelligible way (Velleman, 2003).

Emplotment occupies a central place in the story, building a con-nection between the characters in the narrative and archetypal personastored in readers' memory (Russell, 2002). According to Aristotle, a plotplays the important role of delivering antecedents of each event to builda causality following a probable consequence. The beginning of a plot isexpected to provide a preliminary explanation so that the reader un-derstands what follows and to introduce a narrative voice in the form ofa reliable narrator who will lead readers through the story (Stanzel,1986). The end of a plot is expected to bring events to a close in amanner consistent with the story's overall meaning (Stern, 2003). De-spite “story” and “plot” being used interchangeably, a “story” has achronological sequence, but it does not require causality of events,while a “plot” is an organized narrative with both chronological se-quence and causality.

Stern (2003) suggested that a good plot needs to build an emotionalconnection between consumers and the brand, which can result fromnarrative transportation in a well-organized and logical plot. A plotorganizes events occurring in a story based on chronological order andcausality (Woodside, 2010). According to Tobias (2011), there are 20master plots with different archetypal themes and different causalities:Adventure, Ascension, Descension, Discovery, Escape, Forbidden Love,Love, Maturation, Metamorphosis, Pursuit, Quest, Rescue, Revenge,Riddle/Mystery, Rivalry, Sacrifice, Temptation/Greed, Transformation,Underdog, and Wretched Excess. The master plots serve as a tool forbrands to tell their events as stories, enhancing identification with thebrand persona (Kent, 2015).

2.2.2. Tale: historical connectionWhen reading a tale, readers often question whether it is a real

story. A brand story can be an invented story or a real story. Even for aninvented story, consumers will believe it when historical connections

K. Ryu et al. Tourism Management 71 (2019) 348–363

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ring true to them (Loebbert, 2005). However, if the events in the storydo not agree with historical evidence, a story will lose its credibility(Holt & Macpherson, 2010). Historical connections need to be acceptedby consumers as how things “ought to be” (Huang, 2010). Therefore,historical connections of a story can be received well regardless of thereality of the story. Numerous historical narratives exist in the mar-keting of luxury hotel brands, but most are not compelling (Kent,2015). A compelling story involves narrative fidelity with convincingcharacters based on historical connections with brand events. A his-torical connection can enhance the brand's credibility with consumers,further influencing its perceived image.

2.2.3. Teller: narrative voiceStories representing the “voice” of the brand and passages of brand-

generated prose have been interspersed in the blocks of brand eventsbeneath a plot (Chatman, 1980). Based on Stern's (2003) framework,narrative voice explains the way of conveying a story to be similar toviewing a thought process or recounting experiences of story char-acters. A first-person narrative revolves around the narrator as theprotagonist and delivers the main character's inner thoughts openly tothe readers (Banerjee & Greene, 2012). Stories with a first-personnarrative voice telling his or her own story could be more persuasive asa brand persona than those with a third-person narrative voice (Huang,2010).

According to previous studies on Construal Level Theory (CLT), “thepsychological distance (social, temporal, spatial, and hypothetical dis-tance) relates to the way” people accept the ideas in the story (Janssen,Hoekstra, de Kok, & Schielen, 2009, p. 1429). In CLT, social distancefrom the teller throughout the storyline is one of the dimensions ofpsychological distance (Trope, 2012). A first-person narrator can be afirst-person (I or We) protagonist or a first-person peripheral narrator as“a witness, an observer, a chronicler, and a biographer” (Stanzel, 1986,p. 201). This narrator allows consumers to see the universe of thenarrative events from the viewpoint of the narrator's mind (Mollová,2015). However, a third-person narrator is expressed with the third-person pronoun (He or She) (Herman, Manfred, & Marie-Laure, 2010).Personal experience and inner thoughts from a first-person narratorhave a lower degree of mental intervention than those from a third-person perspective (Edmiston, 1989).

2.3. Narrative transportation

Narrative transportation pertains to a person's ability to process,imagine, and react emotively toward a story (Green & Brock, 2000;Nell, 2002). Gerrig (1993) suggested a physical travel concept in thedefinition of narrative transportation: “Someone is transported as aresult of performing certain actions. The traveler goes some distancefrom his or her world of origin and returns to the world of origin,changed by the journey” (Gerrig, 1993, pp. 10–11). Being lost in anarrative world appears when a reader is heavily immersed into a story(Nell, 2002). The reader feels like living in and becoming a part of thenarrative world (Green & Brock, 2000). The audience may consciouslyor unconsciously stay away from real-life affairs and engage in thenarrative world built by the writer (Green, Brock, & Kaufman, 2004).

Narrative transportation can “cause affective and cognitive re-sponses, beliefs, and attitude and intentional changes” (Van Laer, DeRuyter, Visconti, & Wetzels, 2013, p. 804). In previous research, readerstransported into a story tend to change their previous perceptions on abrand or a subject in the story (Green & Brock, 2000). The highly im-mersed group also showed reduced negative image about story contentsand sympathy with characters (Green & Brock, 2000). As mentionedpreviously, the role of story structure in enacting archetypal plots withhistorical connections by a first-person storyteller can be utilized bybrands to induce transportation (Lloyd & Woodside, 2013).

Previous research suggests that the quality of writing is highlyconnected to how a reader is transported into a story (Green & Brock,

2000). Well-structured literature, including bestseller stories, is con-sidered more transporting than narratives having fewer elements of aproper story structure (Green & Brock, 2000). Previous research hasshown that respondents who read a diary-style story narrated by a first-person indicated more positive attitude toward the contents of the storythan one narrated by a third-person (Green, 2004). Therefore, thisstudy hypothesizes that several key elements of story structure need tobe included in order to transport consumers, including a clear plot withcompelling characters and settings, strong historical connections for acredible story, and a first person narrative voice leading the storyline.

H1. Other things held constant, a brand story of a luxury hotel with ahigh clarity of plot will produce a higher degree of narrativetransportation than a story with a low clarity of plot.

H2. Other things held constant, a brand story of a luxury hotelcontaining a large number of historical connections will induce ahigher degree of narrative transportation than one having fewerhistorical connections.

H3. Other things held constant, a brand story of a luxury hotel narratedby a first-person will induce a higher degree of narrative transportationthan one narrated by a third-person.

Narrative transportation can be measured with a transportationimagery model (TIM) scale investigating two factors related to “theextent of transportation: imagery ability and absorption propensity”(Green & Brock, 2000, p. 703). Imagery ability is defined as consumers'ability to visually rehearse the scene through mental imagery withoutan imposed stimulus (Van Laer et al., 2013). Absorption propensity isdefined as a level of readers’ absorption into contents in the story(Green & Brock, 2000).

2.4. Perceived brand image

Consumers' positive perception of brand image has been regarded asan important goal for luxury hotels to maintain their positions in acompetitive market. Perceived brand image is an image associatingwith a brand in peoples’ perception (Keller, 1993). Brand associationsare connected with attributes and associations of companies, products,and service of a brand (Aaker & Biel, 2013). A highly immersed personinto a story can be involved in the story cognitively and emotionally asexperiencing vivid mental images of the story (Escalas, 2004b). Moreimmersed audiences showed fewer critical and negative beliefs aboutthe contents of the story. Stories can sweep consumers away to differentuniverses created in the brand story, and then readers can be fullyabsorbed into the narrative setting (Green & Brock, 2000).

The benefits of narrative transportation have been increasingly re-cognized by marketing academics. Escalas (2006) suggested that con-sumers who were immersed into a brand story perceived more affectiveresponses and low critical thoughts on brands. Green and Brock (2000)demonstrated that highly immersed consumers showed less analyticaland critical thoughts on the contexts in the experimental stories. Basedon the Merchant and Rose's (2013) study, a well-structured story cantransport consumers and positively influence perceptions of the brandimage. Therefore, this research suggests that immersion may be a keyfactor for building a positive brand image via a narrative impact:

H4. Immersion in a brand story will positively enhance consumers'perceived brand image.

A well-structured brand story aids cognitive processing by helpingreaders follow the events that occur in the story, breaking them intosmaller pieces (Herman, 2003). A good brand story demonstrating fa-vorable brand meanings can build the emotional connection withluxury hotel guests and form an affective image for a brand. This re-search proposed that:

H5. Other things held constant, a brand story of a luxury hotel with a


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high clarity of plot will produce a higher level of positive brand imagethan one having a low clarity of plot.

H6. Other things held constant, a brand story for a luxury hotelcontaining high historical connections will induce a higher level ofpositive brand image than a story containing a lower number ofhistorical connections.

H7. Other things held constant, a brand story of a luxury hotel narratedby a first-person will produce a higher degree of positive brand imagethan one narrated by a third-person.

Narrative transportation may mediate the relationship betweenstory structural elements and brand image. In narrative transportation,readers automatically remember some of the story's contents about thehotel's functional, symbolic, experiential, social or appearance attri-butes (Russell, 2002). Narrative transported consumers develop theirattention from cognitive evaluation to positive brand attachmentthrough narrative processing (Huang, 2010). Stern (2003) suggestedthat narrative processing enables consumers to understand complexstories rapidly. While a potential consumer is absorbed into a story, theperson may become less aware of real-world affairs, which could lead tonegative images of the brand (Green & Brock, 2000). Therefore, nar-rative transportation has the potential to mediate between brand storystructure and perceived brand image. The following hypotheses weresuggested:

H8. Narrative transportation mediates the relationship betweenemplotment and perceived brand image.

H9. Narrative transportation mediates the relationship betweenhistorical connections and perceived brand image.

H10. Narrative transportation mediates the relationship between first-person narration and perceived brand image.

3. Method

An experimental research design was adopted to test the hypotheses(Fig. 1). This approach was chosen because it provided control overother exogenous variables (Andaleeb, 1996) and has been used in re-cent work to analyze the effects of story elements (Chiu, Hsieh, & Kuo,2012; Huang, 2010). This study conducted a between-subjects2× 2×2 experimental design to examine the proposed research fra-mework (see Fig. 2), manipulated emplotment (high/low), historicalconnection (high/low), and narrative voice (first-person/third-person).

3.1. Stimulus materials

In order to control for subjects' previous knowledge of existing

brands, a fictitious brand was used for the experiment (Carnevale,Yucel-Aybat, & Kachersky, 2018; Ryu, Lehto, Gordon, & Fu, 2018b).Based on this fictitious brand, a corresponding brand story and differentvariations of the story were created to test the hypotheses. These brandstories were manipulated into structurally different versions to assesshow these structural differences influence consumers’ narrative trans-portation and their perceived brand image. Based on a between-subjects2×2×2 factorial design, eight stories (see Appendix A) were createdbased on three structural elements, i.e. clarity of plot (high/low), his-torical connection (high/low), and narrative voice (first-person nar-rator/third-person narrator), as listed below:

• Story 1. High clarity of plot, high historical connection, and first-person narrator (FPN)• Story 2. High clarity of plot, high historical connection, and third-person narrator (TPN)• Story 3. High clarity of plot, low historical connection, and FPN• Story 4. High clarity of plot, low historical connection, and TPN• Story 5. Low clarity of plot, high historical connection, and FPN• Story 6. Low clarity of plot, high historical connection, and TPN• Story 7. Low clarity of plot, low historical connection, and FPN• Story 8. Low clarity of plot, low historical connection, and TPN

At the first stage, a best-structured story was used (Story 1, seeAppendix A). It contained a high clarity of plot and high historicalconnection, and employed a first-person narrator. Then, each elementof the brand story structure was removed, one by one, to manipulate theother seven conditions. Eight experimental stories were crafted by

Fig. 1. A mediation model between brand story structure and perceived brand image.

Fig. 2. Research design.


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structurally manipulating the three elements (emplotment, historicalconnections, and narrative voice) for the main test (Appendix A).

The clarity of the plot in the stories was developed with “a causalrelationship, an explanation about the origin, a linear time arrange-ment, and a rational arrangement of scenes” (Huang, 2010, p. 311). Forexample, in the high plot clarity condition, this study organized eventschronologically in the story (e.g., James proposed to Evelyn in 1927; shepromised to marry him if he built a house for her; James established a houseand the two married in 1932; they had many happy experiences in thehouse; James died in a car accident; in 1933, Evelyn decided to transformthe house into a hotel to commemorate his love). For the stories lackingclarity of plot, the sequence of events was related out of order (Jamesdied in a car accident in 1932; James proposed to Evelyn in 1927; shepromised to marry him if he built a house for her; James established a houseand the couple married in 1932; Evelyn decided to share the house as a hotelto commemorate his love in 1933).

In brand stories, a historical connection is represented by having aclear time and origin of the brand, a long brand history, a traceableorigin, and a logical plot (Beverland, 2006; Huang, 2010). Therefore,this study created details such as character information (award-winningarchitect James Douvris; accomplished musician Evelyn White), origin ofthe brand (James and Evelyn established the Douvris hotel in Charleston,South Carolina, at the beginning of the twentieth century), a clear time oforigin (the Douvris opened on January, 4, 1933, to national acclaim),along with a traceable and long brand history (Evelyn kept the hotel untilshe was no longer physically able to live there. Though the ownership hasincluded several partners since the late 1980s, guests continue to embracethe Douvris as their romantic refuge), which appeared in the historicalconnection but not in the low historical connection conditions.

The narrative voice was manipulated in the storylines with a leadingvoice by either a first- or third-person narrator. The stories led by a first-person narrator employed “I” when presenting information (severaldecades later, as I visited Douvris, I could feel the legacy of the Douvris; Iexperienced a secure and private realm; I could have spent my entire staychoosing a bottle; I fell in love with Douvris). The third-person stories havea dry tone with objective description of the hotel experience (guests canfeel the legacy of the Douvris couple; guests can experience a secure andprivate space; guests will fall in love with Douvris).

3.2. Pilot study

In the first stage of the pilot study, the researchers consulted expertsin rhetoric, linguistics and communications about the quality of thecreated brand story and the other seven varied/manipulated versions.The experts were asked whether the elements of brand story structurewere well delineated. The background of this pilot test and descriptionsof each element are provided in Appendix B. Next, the pilot test mea-sured the qualities of the eight versions of the story (see Appendix B)and tested the extent to which participants thought about narrativetransportation and perceived brand image. This pilot study afforded usevaluative data from the respondents regarding this experimental de-sign. Feedback from the experts of linguistics and communications re-garding the experimental plots provide us better understanding of theappropriateness of these plot designs. Participants who had recentlystayed at five-star hotels (within a year) were contacted personally by

the researchers. A total of 89 respondents read a randomly assignedstory from the eight versions. Then, the respondents rated each state-ment on the Narrative Structure Coding Scale in Table 1 (Escalas,2004a). Ten participants were dropped due to incomplete surveys,leaving 79 usable responses.

A major claim in this study is that the story structure of a luxuryhotel brand will affect the level of narrative transportation which willaffect perceived brand image. This pilot study measures this assump-tion. The pilot test showed that the coded narrative scores are differentby eight structurally varied stories (story 1=4.39, story 2=4.32,story 3=3.7, story 4=3.3, story 5= 3.95, story 6= 3.2, story7=3.6, and story 8=3.1). Story 7 was revised by the linguistic ex-perts for four revising rounds to better delineate the existing (firstperson-narration) and not existing elements (clarity of plot, historicalconnections) of a story structure.

3.3. The main test

All participants were randomly assigned to each of the eight ex-perimental stories. After reading their respective versions of the brandstory, subjects were requested to answer questions pertaining to brandimage and narrative transportation via a questionnaire. Demographicinformation was also collected.

The main test has two dependent variables: narrative transportationand perceived brand image. Subjects were asked to represent their levelof agreement with the statements adopted from Gerrig's (1993) trans-portation imagery model (TIM) scale and Sondoh et al.'s (2007) per-ceived brand image scale (See Appendix C). The TIM scale included 11absorption propensity items and one imagery ability item capturing itsmajor dimensions of cognitive, affective, and imagery involvementfrom Gerrig's (1993) study. For the Gerrig's (1993) scale, even thoughtwo dimensions (imagery ability and absorption propensity) are cap-tured in the scale, a sum of scores of those items can represent therelationship of the independent variable and narrative transportation aswell as perceived brand image. Perceived brand image was measuredby 13 items to determine whether the subjects would perceive thebrand as having (1) experiential benefit, (2) symbolic benefit, (3) socialbenefit, (4) functional benefit, and (5) appearance enhancement(Sondoh et al., 2007). More positive brand image and more narrativetransportation are indicated with a higher sum of scores on the surveyitems.

3.3.1. SamplingBased on the between-subjects design of this research and aided by a

survey research firm, the researchers recruited a panel of purposivelysampled subjects to test the hypotheses. Several sampling criteria wereused to select the research subjects. Only adults living in the U.S. whohave stayed at luxury hotels within the past year were included. In thisstudy, a luxury hotel is defined as a five-star rated and full-service hotel(Wu & Liang, 2009). With the help of the survey firm, subjects whohave stayed at one of the following hotels were targeted: The FourSeasons, Waldorf Astoria, St. Regis Hotels, Park Hyatt, and MandarinOriental.

After obtaining Institutional Review Board approval, 1000 qualifiedadults were contacted via a database by the research firm to complete

Table 1Narrative structure coding scale items (Escalas, 2004a).

1. To what extent do these thoughts/does this story consist of actors engaged in actions to achieve goals?2. To what extent do these thoughts/does this story let you know what the actors are thinking and feeling?3. To what extent do these thoughts/does this story provide you with insight about the personal evolution or change in the life of a character?4. To what extent do these thoughts/does this story explain why things happen, that is, what caused things to happen?5. To what extent do these thoughts/does this story have a well-delineated beginning (initial event), middle (crisis or turning point), and ending (conclusion)?6. To what extent do these thoughts/does this story focus on specific, particular events rather than on generalizations or abstractions?

Note. These items are measured on 5-point scales, anchored by not at all (1) and very much so (5).


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the experiment between November 13th and November 16th, 2017.The sample for this main test consisted of 430 respondents with a re-sponse rate of 43%. These subjects completed the required activities(i.e. reading the assigned story and responding to the questionnairethereafter). Seventeen subjects and their responses were dropped fromthe data analysis due to significant incompletion of question itemspertaining to perceived brand image and narrative immersion.

3.3.2. Data analysisThe experimental design is a better measure than cross-sectional

design to derive the causal relationships between sets of variables(Cook, Campbell, & Shadish, 2002). Namasivayam (2004) highlightedthe use of experimental design in hospitality research to achieve highinternal validity. For measuring causality as was the intent for this re-search, the experimental design allowed us “to better infer cause-and-effect relationships and strengthen the validity of relational findings”(So, Oh, & Min, 2018, p. 234).

SAS University Edition was used for calculating the hypothesizedeffects. In order to test Hypotheses 1–3, a three-way analysis of variance(ANOVA) was employed to examine whether significant mean differ-ences existed in narrative transportation across different elements ofbrand stories. The ANOVA methods are normally applied in factorialexperiments to measure causal relationships between sets of variables(Namasivayam, 2004).

For Hypothesis 4, regression was employed to test the relationshipbetween narrative transportation and perceived brand image. In orderto test Hypotheses 5–7, a three-way ANOVA was utilized to measurewhether significant mean differences existed among perceived brandimage across different elements of brand stories. The p-value for thesignificance level was set at 0.05 for this research. For Hypotheses8–10, regression was applied to measure the mediation of narrativetransportation in the relationship between each brand story ele-ment—emplotment, historical connections, and first-person narratio-n—and perceived brand image. Kenny, Kashy, and Bolger's (1998)method on mediation effect has been popularly used to examine whe-ther “group differences on Y (the outcome variable) revealed in ananalysis of variance (ANOVA) disappear after controlling for a proposedmediator” (Hayes & Preacher, 2014, p.452), and therefore was adoptedin this study. Sobel tests were performed to test the indirect effects(Sobel, 1982).

4. Results

4.1. Descriptive data

59.62% of the subjects were female and 40.38% were male.Approximately 41.51% of the respondents were between 30 and 39years old, and another 26% were between 40 and 49 years old. Therespondents were highly educated with 74.3% of the participantscompleted a college or university degree or equivalent, while 25.7%had earned a high school diploma. More than 70% of respondents re-ported higher annual income than the national average, which is$57,617 based on the 2016 Census (Guzman, 2017). Given that thetarget sample was luxury hotel consumers, it is not surprising that thesubjects in the sample, who can afford luxurious purchases, are notyoung (Kapferer & Michaut-Denizeau, 2017). Since income is the mostimportant factor for explaining luxury hotel consumption orientations,this sample promises reasonable representation of luxury hotel guests(Kapferer & Michaut-Denizeau, 2017). All respondents were living inthe United States, with more than 73% of them being white (Table 2).

4.2. Reliability measure

The reliability for overall perceived brand image, and narrativetransportation were measured. The Cronbach's alpha value for narrativetransportation was 0.73 for the 12 items, and for the 13 items of per-ceived brand image was 0.92. The experiential, symbolic, social,

Table 2Sample characteristics (N=413).

Characteristic n % Characteristic n %

Gender EthnicityMale 167 40.44% African American 36 8.72%Female 246 59.56% Asian 47 11.38%

Hispanic 11 2.66%Age Pacific Islander 0 0.00%18–20 9 2.18% White 304 73.61%21–29 75 18.16% Native American 6 1.45%30–39 165 39.95% Other 9 2.18%40–49 120 29.06%50–59 35 8.47%60 or older 9 2.18%

Education Annual IncomeHigh school graduate 24 5.81% Less than $25,000 5 1.21%Completed some college 78 18.89% $25,000 to $34,999 34 8.23%Associate degree 60 14.53% $35,000 to $49,999 47 11.38%Bachelor's degree 180 43.58% $50,000 to $74,999 103 24.94%Completed some postgraduate 15 3.63% $75,000 to $99,999 120 29.06%Master's degree 50 12.11% $100,000 to $149,999 85 20.58%PhD or other professional degree 6 1.45% $150,000 or more 19 4.60%

Table 3ANOVA table for narrative transportation.

Source DF SS MS F Sig.

Emplotment 1 62.265 62.265 84.94 < .0001**Historical 1 32.908 32.908 44.89 < .0001**Emplotment*Historical 1 0.197 0.197 0.27 0.6042First Person Narrator (FPN) 1 10.612 10.612 14.48 0.0002**Emplotment*FPN 1 0.083 0.083 0.11 0.7364Historical*FPN 1 2.151 2.151 2.93 0.0875Emplotment*Historical*FPN 1 0.838 0.838 1.14 0.2855Error 405 296.896 0.733Corrected Total 412 405.951

Note: **p < 0.01, DF: Degrees of freedom, SS: Sum of squares, MS: Meansquare.


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functional, and appearance dimensions were 0.86, 0.70, 0.73, 0.86, and0.74, respectively. The high level of Cronbach's alpha indicated an ac-ceptable reliability for the overall dimensions.

4.3. Hypothesis tests

4.3.1. Brand story structure and narrative transportationResults pertaining to Hypotheses 1–3 are presented in this section.

Using the General Linear Models (GLM) procedure, the three-wayANOVA was performed. As shown in Table 3, H1 was supported be-cause emplotment on narrative transportation had significant main ef-fect (F1,405= 84.94, p<0.0001). It means that a brand story of aluxury hotel with a high clarity of plot induced a higher degree ofnarrative transportation than one with a low clarity of plot arrange-ment. Also, H2 was supported because the result of historical connec-tions on narrative transportation had significant main effect(F1,405= 44.89, p<0.0001). It shows that a brand story of a luxuryhotel with high historical connections induced a higher degree of nar-rative transportation than one having fewer historical connections. H3was supported because first-person narration on narrative transporta-tion had significant main effect (F1,405= 14.48, p=0.0002). It means abrand story narrated by a first-person induced a higher degree of nar-rative transportation than one narrated by a third-person.

Descriptive statistics for narrative transportation are reported inTable 4. Table 4 shows the number of respondents assigned to an ex-perimental story and the average values of narrative transportation.Specifically, the high clarity of plot group indicated significantly morenarrative transportation (M=4.69) than the low clarity of plot group(M=4.00), providing support for H1. A similar pattern was present forthe high-historical connections group (M=4.57), having significantlyhigher more narrative transportation than the low-historical connec-tions group (M=4.12), supporting H2. Also, the first-person narratorgroup (M=4.48) showed significantly higher narrative transportationthan the third-person narrator group (M=4.21), supporting H3.

4.3.2. Perceived brand image and narrative transportationHypothesis 4, which is the relationship between narrative trans-

portation and perceived brand image, was tested by the regression

procedure. As shown in Table 5, narrative transportation (t1,411= 10.3,p<0.0001) has a significant effect on perceived brand image. There-fore, the results support H4. It shows that narrative transportation onthe experimental story enhanced positive perceived brand image on thehotel.

4.3.2.1. A quintile analysis. Table 6 reports a quintile analysis ofnarrative transportation and perceived brand image. This analysisallows a further understanding of the contrarian cases as it “dividesthe respondent cases from the lowest to highest quintile for eachmeasured construct” and examining the contrarian cases that counter alarge main effect (Russo, Confente, Gligor, & Autry, 2016, p. 891). Aquintile analysis is necessary in order not to oversimplify a complextheorizing. The very highly transported group included 33 subjects withvery high perceived brand image whereas only 6 subjects fell into thevery low perceived brand image group. The first contrarian cases arerepresented in the sets of subjects with very low to low perceived brandimage who expressed very high to high narrative transportation(6 + 9+6 + 8 = 29 cases or 29/413 or 7% of the total cases). Thesecond contrarian cases were reported in the sets of respondents veryhigh to high perceived brand image who expressed very low to lownarrative transportation (4 + 5+12+ 2= 23 cases or 23/413 or 5.6%of the total cases). The total contrarian cases countering to the maineffect are more than one-fifth of the total cases in this research(7% + 5.6% = 12.6%). Even though the main effect was found tohave a large effect size, cases countering to the large effect were foundto exist. This phenomenon can be further understood in our futureresearch.

4.3.3. Perceived brand image and brand story structureThe General Linear Models (GLM) procedure performed a three-way

ANOVA test. As shown in Table 7, Hypothesis 5 is supported with thesignificant main effect of emplotment on perceived brand image(F1,405= 35.69, p<0.0001). It means that a brand story of a luxuryhotel with a high clarity of plot induced a higher degree of positivebrand image than with a low clarity of plot. Also, Hypothesis 6 issupported with the significant main effect of historical connections onperceived brand image (F1,405= 37.75, p<0.0001). It shows that abrand story of a luxury hotel containing high historical connectionsinduced a higher degree of positive brand image than one with lowhistorical connections. Hypothesis 7 is supported with the significantinfluence of first-person narrator on perceived brand image(F1,405= 8.84, p=0.0031). It indicates that a brand story of a luxuryhotel narrated by a first-person induced a higher degree of positivebrand image than one narrated by a third-person.

Descriptive statistics for perceived brand image are reported inTable 8. Specifically, the high clarity of plot group indicated sig-nificantly more positive brand image (M=4.33) than the low clarity ofplot group (M=3.69), providing support for H5. A similar pattern waspresent for the high-historical connections group (M=4.22), havingsignificantly higher more positive brand image than the low-historicalconnections group (M=3.80), supporting H6. Also, the first-personnarrator group (M=4.13) showed significantly higher narrativetransportation than the third-person narrator group (M=3.89), sup-porting H7.

4.3.4. Mediation of narrative transportationThe present research study's objective was to determine the med-

iating role of narrative transportation on the relationship between eachelement of brand story structure and perceived brand image. Therefore,three Sobel Tests were conducted to measure the mediating effect ofnarrative transportation on the relationship between each story struc-tural element and perceived brand image. For Hypothesis 8, emplot-ment was the independent variable, with narrative transportation as themediator and perceived brand image as the dependent variable. Asshown in Table 9, results indicated a significant mediating effect of

Table 4Mean values of narrative transportation for the experimental groups (N=413).

Emplotment Historicalconnection

Narrator N Mean Std Dev Min Max

High clarity ofplot

High First-person 53 5.21 1.23 3.25 6.75Third-person 52 4.62 0.60 3.17 6.33

Low First-person 50 4.81 0.56 3.08 5.75Third-person 51 4.32 0.77 3.42 7.00

Low clarity ofplot



Table 5Regression for perceived brand image and narrative transportation.

Source DF ParameterEstimate

SE t Value Sig

Transportation 1 1.28814 0.12509 10.3 < .0001**

F Value

Model 1 130.27966 130.27966 410.33 < .0001**Error 411 130.49193 0.3175Corrected Total 412 260.77159

Note: **p < 0.01, DF: Degrees of freedom, SE: Standard error.


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narrative transportation on the relationship between emplotment andperceived brand image (β= 0.569, t=18.71, p < 0.0001). ForHypothesis 9, the variable of historical connection was the independentvariable, narrative transportation was the mediator, and perceivedbrand image was the dependent variable. As shown in Table 10, nar-rative transportation again was found to significantly mediate the re-lationship between historical connection and perceived brand image(β=0.549, t=18.89, p < 0.0001). In the final test for Hypothesis 10,the first-person narrator was the independent variable, while narrativetransportation was the mediator and perceived brand image was the

dependent variable. As shown in Table 11, results also represented asignificant mediating role of transportation on the relationship betweenfirst-person narration and perceived brand image (β=0.564,t=19.88, p < 0.0001). Therefore, H8, H9, and H10 were supported.

5. Discussions

5.1. Discussions

This study empirically explored the role of brand story structure inconsumer perceptions of luxury hotel brands by assessing their psy-chological responses to different levels of brand story structure. Notedbelow are a few key observations:

• A brand story with an easy-to-follow plot, well-narrated charactersand events, as well as a historical story element induces hotel con-sumers' ability to be immersed in the story.• The use of first-person narration adds credibility of a brand storyand helps narrow consumers' psychological distance to a hotelbrand.• Narrative transportation can positively influence the formation of ahotel brand image.• A well-structured brand story with clarity of emplotment, historicalconnections, and a first-person narrator can help shape a positivehotel brand image.• Narrative transportation mediates the relationship between eachelement of brand story structure and perceived brand image, un-derlining the need for strategic considerations of story structure,reader story immersion, and brand image formation.

5.2. Theoretical implications

It is evident in this research that narrative transportation is createdwhen individuals respond to well-structured brand stories, stimulatingtheir conscious and subconscious connections with a brand. The out-comes of this research extended the notion of Escalas's (2004a) researchthat narrative transportation engenders a favorable and less analyticbrand image, with new evidence from the luxury hotel sector. Thecurrent study further extended this realm of research by linking brand

Table 6Quintile analysis representing contrarian cases.

Table 7ANOVA table for perceived brand image.

Source DF SS MS F Sig.

Emplotment 1 18.843 18.843 35.69 < .0001**Historical 1 18.875 18.875 35.75 < .0001**Emplotment*Historical 1 0.056 0.056 0.11 0.7451FPN 1 4.668 4.668 8.84 0.0031**Emplotment*FPN 1 2.600 2.600 4.92 0.207Historical*FPN 1 0.258 0.258 0.49 0.4847Emplotment*Historical*FPN 1 1.633 1.633 3.09 0.0794Error 405 213.838 0.528Corrected Total 412 260.772

Note: **p < 0.01, DF: Degrees of freedom, SS: Sum of squares, MS: Meansquare.

Table 8Mean values of perceived brand image for all experimental groups (N=413).

Emplotment Historicalconnection

Narrator N Mean Std Dev Min Max

High clarity ofplot



Low clarity ofplot



Table 9Effect of emplotment and narrative transportation on perceived brand image.

Step 1 (Y←X) t Step 2 (M←X) t Step 3 (Y←MX) t Step 4 (Sobel Test) Pr> |Z|

Emplotment (X) 0.4272 5.66∗∗ 0.7768 8.63∗∗ −0.01503 −0.25 7.8362 0.000Narrative Transportation (M) 0.56947 18.71∗∗

F 32.01∗∗ 74.46∗∗ 204.73∗∗

R2 for each step 0.0723 0.1534 0.4997△ R2 0.0811 0.3463Adj R2 for each step 0.07 0.1513 0.4972△ Adj R2 0.0813 0.3459

Note: **p < 0.01.


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structure factor to narrative transportation and brand image formation.This represents a pioneering effort in demonstrating the dynamic re-lationships among brand structure, story transportation, and brandimage formation. In this sense, this research makes a significant con-ceptual contribution toward hotel brand storytelling literature.

Storytelling has been regarded as a persuasive tool to deliver in-tended messages to readers since ancient times. Aristotle, for instance,suggested that the modes of structural elements to enhance persuasionpower of a good story include ethos, pathos, and logos (Fisher, 1984).Nowadays, in the era of branding, much research on the relationshipbetween story structure and narrative transportation (Escalas, 2004a,2004b, 2006; Chen, 2015; Green et al., 2004; Kim, Lloyd, & Cervellon,2016; Lundqvist et al., 2013; Van Laer et al., 2013) and the relationshipbetween storytelling and brand image (Hamby, 2014; Herskovitz &Crystal, 2010; Huang, 2010; Merchant & Rose, 2013) highlights theimportance of brand story on building a strong brand. The previousstudies emphasized that brand storytelling by luxury brands in theservice environment is effective due to the psychological characteristicsof their consumers (Lundqvist et al., 2013; Mossberg, 2008). However,empirical assessments of the impact of brand story structure on con-sumers’ luxury hotel brand perceptions have been rare. Therefore, thisresearch is meaningful in that it developed and tested a conceptualmodel of the relationship between brand story structure and perceivedbrand image in the luxury hotel setting.

This research study also examined the mediating effect of narrativetransportation. It was a significant application of the transportationimagery model in the field of luxury hotels, explaining how a positivebrand image could be induced by a brand story. This research points tothe importance of putting the consumer into the transported imagery ofthe luxury hotel brand story as an effective way to enhance perceivedbrand image.

5.3. Practical implications

Based on the result of this study, a well-structured brand story canenhance perceived brand image in consumers' minds. This finding isstrategically meaningful to marketers of luxury hotel brands, becausethere is not much research on testing the effect of story structure onperceived brand image. As luxury consumers expect higher hedonicvalues than consumers of other hotel segments, developing a good

brand story needs to be considered in a firm's effort to build a strongbrand. Most luxury hotels have not regarded a brand storytelling to animportant branding tool, and listed their simple historical timelinewithout delivering it as a brand story (Ryu et al., 2018). Many luxuryhotels have no brand story or not well-structured stories on theirwebsites. It is important to encapsulate the branding activities in acompelling story to persuaded consumers easily. Therefore, luxuryhotel brands should write their brand story as a well-structured com-pelling narrative by purposefully crafting a brand story with a highclarity of plot, high historical connections, and first-person narration. Ifa luxury hotel has a brand story already, revising it structurally canmake it more effective. This narrative will help differentiate the brandand its values and will make the brand more memorable than similarhotels without such a brand story strategy. By writing a story whichimmerses the guest into the story, a hotel brand can establish a personallink between the brand and the guest and thus build credibility in theguest's mind. When a guest reads a compelling story on the hotel'swebsite or sees a video depicting the story before staying at the hotel,the guest may form a connection with the hotel as if it were a personand not simply a structure. Furthermore, if the brand story is writtenfrom the first-person perspective, the distance between the guest andthe hotel will be even smaller. Hotels could further enhance their storiesby employing marketing techniques to involve the guest in the storyitself such as asking the guest for their name and purpose of their visitand adding these elements to the story online as the guest reads it orallowing the guest to upload a picture of him- or herself, which wouldthen be made part of the video brand story as the guest watches it.

A specific aspect of effective hotel brand storytelling has to do withpurposefully threading a historical element in brand storytelling, as thisresearch demonstrated that a historical connection of a brand can en-hance a sense of brand credibility and formation of consumer emotionalconnections with the brand. Emplotment techniques and the use of first-person narrators are two other storytelling elements that luxury hotelsneed to consider when crafting a brand story. Thus, the hotel companyshould also intertwine the brand story with the servicescape of its hotelsto further differentiate itself from its competitors, as the story will bebetter imprinted in the guests' memories throughout their stay. Forexample, a luxury hotel employing a story of a couple who started thebrand, such as the one utilized in this research, could establish a fine-dining restaurant in which the servers are acting as if they were that

Table 10Effect of historical connections and narrative transportation on perceived brand image.


Historical Connections (X) 0.4307 5.71∗∗ 0.5703 6.09∗∗ 0.1174 2.03∗∗ 5.7936 0.000Narrative Transportation (M) 0.5495 18.89∗∗

F 32.57∗∗ 37.05∗∗ 208.8∗∗


Note: **p < 0.01.

Table 11Effect of first-person narrator and narrative transportation on perceived brand image.


First-person narrator (X) 0.2123 2.73∗∗ 0.3216 3.33∗∗ 0.0310 0.55∗∗ 3.2865 0.001Immersion (M) 0.5640 19.88∗∗

F 7.47** 11.10** 204.97∗∗


Note: **p < 0.01.


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couple, or for the story of a founder portrayed as a hero each room inthe hotel could illustrate an event in that founder's life including a diaryentry written by the founder in first person. Hotels that successfullyimmerse guests in their brand story will create brand ambassadors thatwill then become the hotel's storytellers and thus spread the hotel'sbrand image and value on behalf of the hotel.

Within luxury hotels, storytelling should be associated with allstakeholders of the brands. Therefore, other stories related to the hotelneed to include theme and essence from the brand story to deliverconsistent and effective brand messages to guests, employees, and otherstakeholders. This could then be replicated at the new-hire orientationwhen the brand story is told. Ensuring that all employees know thebrand story will not only bring them closer to the brand as if it were aperson, but also allow these employees to become brand storytellerswhich can help to recruit future employees, socialize new employees,build connections with other employees and guests, and provide a morememorable experience for the guests. Ensuring a well-structured storythat is interwoven throughout all communication by the hotel brandwill also make for a strong brand image, which may bring guests to thehotel, entice guests to become loyal, and increase profitability for theshareholders.

5.4. Limitations and future research

The present study investigated the effect of brand story structure onperceived brand image, with narrative transportation as a mediator.However, these two variables might be correlated variables. Due to thenonexistence of a previous perceived brand image for a fictitious brand,this research could not measure whether there is a two-way causal re-lationship between the variables. However, in future research, usingdifferent measures other than ANOVA can be helpful to test possiblecorrelations and other causal relationships. Also, this research followedconventional standards for testing and reporting null hypothesis sig-nificance (Escalas, 2006; Kim et al., 2016; Lien & Chen, 2013). How-ever, analysis using algorithms like fuzzy-set qualitative comparativeanalysis could be valuable to measure in storytelling studies due to theintegrative nature of represented contexts (Woodside, 2014).

This research investigated the effect of brand story structure onnarrative transportation and brand image, not on purchasing intention.Therefore, this study cannot conclude that brands with a well-struc-tured story will increase the financial performance of a luxury hotelbrand. Future research can investigate the impact of brand storystructure on brand attitude and purchasing intentions.

This research tested the effect of brand story structure, but telling astory is also important. In order to test the impact of brand storystructure on consumer behavior, channels for brand storytelling need tobe considered in the future. In reality, brand stories are usually deliv-ered via specific channels such as print, SNS, Youtube, and companywebsites. Additionally, based on Mossberg's (2008) study, the servi-cescape in the luxury hotel setting has an important role in telling abrand story. Therefore, the servicescape needs to be considered inconjunction with strengthening the effect of a well-structured brandstory. This research only measured how the eight-structurally variedversions of a brand story affect consumers' narrative transportation andultimately perceived brand image. However, in a real life situation,other branding activities alongside brand storytelling can affect theconsumers' perception on a brand image of a luxury hotel. Modeling amore complex process which includes these other treatments canstrengthen the findings of this research and therefore reveal morerealistic insights to industry practitioners.

Based on the theory of Kent (2015), different plot types can bringdifferent results. However, this study utilized a crafted story with a“Love” master plot to reduce heterogeneity of preference. Therefore,future research needs to investigate storytelling structural elementsusing other story plot types. According to Ryu et al. (2018a), pursuitand adventure plots were frequently utilized in luxury hotel brandstories. Therefore, the relationship between brand story structure andnarrative transportation or brand image should be investigated withstories lines of pursuit or adventure. Additionally, luxury hotels wereselected as the focus of this study. In future studies, researchers couldexamine the role of storytelling in other hospitality sectors or in otherproducts or service categories.

Author contribution

Kyungin Ryu identified the research question for the study, designedthe study, conducted research, collected and analyzed data, and wrotethe initial and final drafts of article. Xinran Lehto provided substantialcontributions to overall paper quality including research con-ceptualization, research design, data analysis, implications, andmanuscript improvement and editorial work. Susan Gordon contributedto the research design, data analysis, practical implications, andmanuscript editing. Xiaoxiao Fu contributed to the research design,data analysis, theoretical implications and discussions, and manuscriptediting.

Appendix A. Stories for main test

[Story 1. High clarity of plot, high historical connection, and first-person narrator (FPN)]

When I met my future husband, James Douvris, who is an award-winning architect, I was an accomplished musician. James and I initiated theDouvris hotel in Charleston, SC, at the beginning of the twentieth century. One weekend in March 1927, James proposed to me on our favorite hike atthe Stairway to Heaven (Haiku Stairs) on the island of Oahu, HI. I promised to marry him if he would always make me laugh at a house with abalcony that overlooks a lavender farm.

James returned home and started a plan to build a luxury and elegant mansion in Charleston. It took three years to construct the house. Soon, wefell in love with the mansion and got married at its lavender farm in 1932. As the Douvris couple, we enjoyed strolling across the lavender farm andbeing relaxed in the romantic lavender breeze. Sadly, our happy marriage did not last long. James died in a car accident in December of 1932, lessthan one year into our marriage. After the tragic accident, my heart was broken from the pain of separation of death. However, I cannot leave ourhouse due to a romantic memory. I had decided to share the romantic breeze of the house with others by operating the house as a hotel namedDouvris to remember his love. Douvris opened on January, 4, 1933 to national acclaim as five-star hotel. I kept the hotel until I was able to managehotel facilities. Though the ownership now includes several partners since the late 1980s, guests continue to embrace Douvris as their romanticrefuge.


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Several decades later, whenever I visit Douvris, I still feel the legacy of our love revolving around the calm sweep of the lavender farm in thedistant sunlight, with the promise of warmth and intimacy at the end of the day. I can experience a secure and private realm with stunningcontemporary décor and a broad range of service on request worthy of a five-star establishment. With a 14,000-bottle wine cellar, I have spent myentire stay choosing a bottle from the list. I also love a spectacular view of Douvris' sprawling 15-acre grounds and the highlight of Charleston's ruralretreats. The large pool, sweeping staircase, and state of the art lobby are only some of the meticulously detailed spaces of the hotel. This fulfills mydesire to feel the romantic escape we experienced in Douvris. Guests vising Douvris will fall in love with Douvris like it's their second home.

[Story 2. High clarity of plot, high historical connection, and third-person narrator (TPN)]

Award-winning architect James Douvris and accomplished musician Evelyn White initiated the Douvris hotel in Charleston, SC, at the beginningof the twentieth century. One weekend in March 1927, James proposed to Evelyn on their favorite hike at the Stairway to Heaven (Haiku Stairs) onthe island of Oahu, HI. She promised to marry him if he would always make her laugh at a house with a balcony that overlooks a lavender farm.

James returned home and started a plan to build a luxury and elegant mansion in Charleston. It took three years to construct the house. Soon,they fell in love with the place and got married at its lavender farm in 1932. The Douvris couple enjoyed strolling across the lavender farm and beingrelaxed in the romantic lavender breeze. However, their happy marriage did not last long. James died in a car accident in December of 1932, lessthan one year into their marriage. After the tragic accident, Evelyn decided to share the romantic breeze of the house with others by operating thehouse as a hotel named Douvris to remember their love. Douvris opened on January, 4, 1933 to national acclaim as five-star hotel. Evelyn kept thehotel until she was no longer physically able to live there. Though the ownership now includes several partners since the late 1980s, guests continueto embrace Douvris as their romantic refuge.

Guests can feel the legacy of the Douvris couple revolve around the calm sweep of the lavender farm in the distant sunlight, with the promise ofwarmth and intimacy at the end of the day. Guests can experience a secure and private realm with stunning contemporary décor and a broad range ofservice on request worthy of a five-star establishment. With a 14,000-bottle wine cellar, guests are able to spend their entire stay choosing a bottlefrom the list. Guests will also enjoy a spectacular view of Douvris' sprawling 15-acre grounds and the highlight of Charleston's rural retreats. The largepool, sweeping staircase, and state of the art lobby are only some of the meticulously detailed spaces of the hotel. This can fulfill guests' desire toexperience the romantic escape in Douvris. They will fall in love with Douvris like it's their second home.

[Story 3. High clarity of plot, low historical connection, and FPN]

Douvris was initiated by James Douvris and Evelyn White in Charleston, SC. James proposed to Evelyn on their favorite hike at the island of Oahu,HI. She promised to marry him if he would always make her laugh at a house with a balcony that overlooks a lavender farm. James built a luxury andelegant mansion in three years and then they got married at its lavender farm.

The Douvris couple enjoyed strolling across the lavender farm and being relaxed in the romantic lavender breeze. However, their happy marriagedid not last long. James died in a car accident less than one year into their marriage. After the tragic accident, Evelyn decided to operate the house asa hotel named Douvris.

Several decades later, as I visited Douvris, I could feel the legacy of the Douvris couple revolve around the calm sweep of the lavender farm in thedistant sunlight, with the promise of warmth and intimacy at the end of the day. I experienced a secure and private realm with stunning con-temporary décor and a broad range of service on request worthy of a five-star establishment. With a 14,000-bottle wine cellar, I could have spent myentire stay choosing a bottle from the list. I also enjoyed a spectacular view of Douvris' sprawling 15-acre grounds and the highlight of Charleston'srural retreats. The large pool, sweeping staircase, and state of the art lobby are only some of the meticulously detailed spaces of the hotel. Thisfulfilled my desire to experience the romantic escape in Douvris. I fell in love with Douvris like it was my second home.

[Story 4. High clarity of plot, low historical connection, and TPN]

Douvris was initiated by James Douvris and Evelyn White in Charleston, SC. James proposed to Evelyn on their favorite hike at the island of Oahu,HI. She promised to marry him if he would always make her laugh at a house with a balcony that overlooks a lavender farm. James built a luxury andelegant mansion in three years and then they got married at its lavender farm.

The Douvris couple enjoyed strolling across the lavender farm and being relaxed in theromantic lavender breeze. However, their happy marriagedid not last long. James died in a car accident less than one year into their marriage. After the tragic accident, Evelyn decided to operate the house asa hotel named Douvris.


[Story 5. Low clarity of plot, high historical connection, and FPN]

In December of 1932, award-winning architect James Douvris died in a car accident and then accomplished musician Evelyn Douvris decided tooperate their first house as a hotel named Douvris to remember their love. One weekend in March 1927, James proposed to Evelyn on their favoritehike at the Stairway to Heaven (Haiku Stairs) on the island of Oahu, HI. James started a plan to build a luxury and elegant mansion with a balconythat overlooks a lavender farm as their first house in Charleston, SC. Soon, they fell in love with the place and got married at its lavender farm in1932. The Douvris couple enjoyed strolling across the lavender farm and being relaxed in the romantic lavender breeze. Douvris opened on January,4, 1933 to national acclaim as five-star hotel. Evelyn kept the hotel until she was no longer physically able to live here. Though the ownership nowincludes several partners since the late 1980s, guests continue to embrace Douvris as their romantic refuge.

Several decades later, as I visited Douvris, I could feel the legacy of the Douvris couple revolve around the calm sweep of the lavender farm in the


358

distant sunlight, with the promise of warmth and intimacy at the end of the day. I experienced a secure and private realm with stunning con-temporary décor and a broad range of service on request worthy of a five-star establishment. With a 14,000-bottle wine cellar, I could have spent myentire stay choosing a bottle from the list. I also enjoyed a spectacular view of Douvris' sprawling 15-acre grounds and the highlight of Charleston'srural retreats. The large pool, sweeping staircase, and state of the art lobby are only some of the meticulously detailed spaces of the hotel. Thisfulfilled my desire to experience the romantic escape in Douvris. I fell in love with Douvris like it was my second home.

[Story 6. Low clarity of plot, high historical connection, and TPN]

In December of 1932, award-winning architect James Douvris died in a car accident and then accomplished musician Evelyn Douvris decided tooperate their first house as a hotel named Douvris to remember their love. One weekend in March 1927, James proposed to Evelyn on their favoritehike at the Stairway to Heaven (Haiku Stairs) on the island of Oahu, HI. James started a plan to build a luxury and elegant mansion with a balconythat overlooks a lavender farm as their first house in Charleston, SC. Soon, they fell in love with the place and got married at its lavender farm in1932. The Douvris couple enjoyed strolling across the lavender farm and being relaxed in the romantic lavender breeze. Douvris opened on January,4, 1933 to national acclaim as five-star hotel. Evelyn kept the hotel until she was no longer physically able to live here. Though the ownership nowincludes several partners since the late 1980s, guests continue to embrace Douvris as their romantic refuge.


[Story 7. Low clarity of plot, low historical connection, and FPN]

Award-winning architect James Douvris died in a car accident and then accomplished musician Evelyn Douvris decided to operate their firsthouse as a hotel named Douvris to remember their love. James proposed to Evelyn on their favorite hike at the island of Oahu, HI. James started aplan to build a luxury and elegant mansion with a balcony that overlooks a lavender farm as their first house in Charleston, SC and got married at itslavender farm. The Douvris couple enjoyed strolling across the lavender farm and being relaxed in the romantic lavender breeze.

Several decades later, as I visited Douvris, I could feel the legacy of the Douvris couple revolve around the calm sweep of the lavender farm in thedistant sunlight, with the promise of warmth and intimacy at the end of the day. I experienced a secure and private realm with stunning con-temporary décor and a broad range of service on request worthy of a five-star establishment. With a 14,000-bottle wine cellar, I could have spent myentire stay choosing a bottle from the list. I also enjoyed a spectacular view of Douvris' sprawling 15-acre grounds and highlight of Charleston's ruralretreats. The large pool, sweeping staircase, and state of the art lobby are only some of the meticulously detailed spaces of the hotel. This fulfilled mydesire to experience the romantic escape in Douvris. I fell in love with Douvris like it was my second home.

[Story 8. Low clarity of plot, low historical connection, and TPN]

Award-winning architect James Douvris died in a car accident and then accomplished musician Evelyn Douvris decided to operate their firsthouse as a hotel named Douvris to remember their love. James proposed to Evelyn on their favorite hike at the island of Oahu, HI. James started aplan to build a luxury and elegant mansion with a balcony that overlooks a lavender farm as their first house in Charleston, SC and they got marriedat its lavender farm. The Douvris couple enjoyed strolling across the lavender farm and being relaxed in theromantic lavender breeze.


Appendix B. Pilot study introduction

Background

This study conducts research on the effects of elements of a brand story on immersion in a story. I would love to hear from experts about thequality of stories prior to pilot study, whether the elements of story were well-delineated or not. This will help us make improvements to themodified stories and main experiment.

The stories are about an invented tale of the fictitious luxury hotel brand “Douvris.” Eight versions of the brand story with varying degrees of“clarity of plot,” “historical connection,” and “narrative voice” were created for the pilot test.

What are the elements of Brand Stories?

Hirschman (2010) and Stern (2003) argued that there are three key components of the effectiveness of a brand story: the telling (clarity of plot),the tale (historical connection), and the teller (narrative voice).

1) Historical connection (Beverland, 2006; Huang, 2010) is having a clear time of brand origin, a long history of the brand, traceable origin, andrational plot.a. Description of Historical Connection: A story would not need to be a real story, but the story would be believed as “a true story” if it embraced


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some historical connections to people in real life (Loebbert, 2005). A story loses its clarity and integrity of the argument if it does not accordwith historical evidence in the brand, and appears to distort or hide the truth (Holt & Macpherson, 2010). What is perceived to be historicalconnection must fit into customers' mental perspectives of how things “ought to be” (Grayson & Martinec, 2004).

2) Clarity of plot is having a causal relationship, an explanation about the origin, the linear time arrangement, and rational scenes arrangement ofthe brand.a. Description of Clarity of Plot: Plot thus serves the important role of organizing experiences and making them meaningful in a logical sequence.It is an essential attribute that organizes events with a beginning, middle, and an end (Stern, 2003). Stern (2003) stated that an appropriateplot should always maintain the emotional connection between the brand and consumer.

3) Narrative voice was manipulated in the storylines with a leading voice by either a first or third person narrator.a. First-person narrator: The stories told by a first-person narrator employed “I” when presenting information.b. In the third-person stories, the stories have a dry tone of objective description about the hotel experience. [Pilot test stories are as follows.]

Appendix C. Questionnaire

A survey on the effects of brand stories on brand image

Text: Please read a brand story as below.

One of the eight different stories (in Appendix A) randomly presented

Q1. Below are listed some statements that indicate how you would feel about the brand story described in the previous page. For each statement,please indicate to what extent you agree with it. »1« means the statement showed your feeling not at all, and »7« means the statement showedyour feeling very much.

Not at all (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Very much (7)

While I was reading the narrative, events going on in the story were vividly imagined.I was emotionally involved in the narrative.While I was reading the narrative, I could easily picture the events in it taking place.The events in the narrative have changed my life.The events in the narrative are relevant to my everyday life.I found my mind wandering while reading the narrative.I could picture myself in the scene of the events described in the narrative.After finishing the narrative, I found it easy to put it out of my mind.While reading the narrative I had a vivid image of Douvris.I found myself thinking of ways the narrative could have turned out differently.I was mentally involved in the narrative while reading it.I wanted to learn how the narrative ended.

Q2. Below are listed some statements that indicate the brand image of Douvris. For each statement, please indicate to what extent you agree withit. »1« means you completely disagree with it, and »5« means you agree with it completely.

Stronglydisagree (1)

(2) (3) (4) Stronglyagree (5)

The Douvris brand makes me feel good.The Douvris brand makes me feel delighted.After knowing about the Douvris hotel, this brand will increase my frequency of staying at a hotel.This brand gives me pleasure.If I stay at the Douvris hotel, I feel it may prevent me from looking cheap.The Douvris brand emulates the perceptions that I have of a desirable lifestyle.This is a hotel that I can recommend to my social group.If I stay at this hotel, I feel that service from this hotel would make me feel accepted.If I stay at this hotel, I feel it would improve others' positive perception of me.If I stay at this hotel, I feel it would perform as it promises in the brand story.If I stay at this hotel, I feel it can satisfy my expectation of this brand.If I stay at this hotel, I feel it will create a good impression of me among other people.Staying at this hotel would be more effective to my satisfaction than other hotels.


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Demographic QuestionsQ3. What is your age?

• 18–20• 21–29• 30–39• 40–49• 50–59• 60 or olderQ4. What is your gender?

• Female• MaleQ5. In what country do you currently reside?

• United States• Other (please specify)Q6. What was your total household income before taxes during the past 12 months?

• Less than $25,000• $25,000 to $34,999• $35,000 to $49,999• $50,000 to $74,999• $75,000 to $99,999• $100,000 to $149,999• $150,000 or moreQ7. What is your ethnicity?

• African American• Asian• Hispanic• Pacific Islander• White• Native American• OtherQ8. What is your education level?

• Completed some high school• High school graduate• Completed some college• Associate degree• Bachelor's degree• Completed some postgraduate• Master's degree• Ph. D or other professional degree

Thank you for participating in our survey!

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Kyungin Ryu, M.S. received a master's degree in hospitalityand tourism management at Purdue University. Her re-search interests include brand storytelling, narrative pro-cessing, and consumer behavior in hospitality and tourism.

Xinran Y. Lehto is Professor of hospitality and tourismmanagement at Purdue University. Prior to her academicappointments, Dr. Lehto spent 6 years working in the traveland tourism industry as a marketing executive. Dr. Lehto'sresearch addresses how destinations can effectively marketexperience-based vacation products to unique segments.

Dr. Susan Gordon is an Assistant Professor in the School ofHospitality & Tourism Management at Purdue University.Prior to entering academia, Dr. Gordon spent over ten yearsworking in the hospitality industry. She held various roomoperations and human resources management positionswith hospitality organizations including Starwood Hotels &Resorts, Walt Disney World, and Marriott International. Dr.Gordon's research area is primarily human resources andshe is particularly interested in how organizations can im-prove employee wellbeing, both emotional and physical,and increase supervisor and organizational support.

Xiaoxiao Fu is Assistant Professor of Rosen College ofHospitality Management, University of Central Florida. Herresearch revolves around tourism and hospitality mar-keting. Specifically, her work has addressed the topics ofdestination marketing and planning, consumer experiencesand wellbeing, cross-cultural issues and emerging markets,and specific market segments including family travelers andadolescents.


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