The Impact of Narrative Transportation on Consumer Brand

Attachment: A Mechanism Study with Emotional Response and

Social Identity as Dual Mediators

Jingyuan Niu

Shenzhen Audencia Financial Technology Institute, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

Keywords: Narrative Transportation, Brand Attachment, Emotional Response, Social Identity, Mediation Effect.

Abstract: Grounded in narrative‑transportation theory, this study examines how brand stories enhance consumer brand

attachment and verifies the dual mediating roles of emotional response and social identity. Using 117 valid

questionnaires and Baron & Kenny’s mediation tests, the results show that narrative transportation influences

brand attachment entirely through emotional response and social identity. The study proposes two

optimization routes—emotional‑resonance design and community‑identity cultivation—and empirically

demonstrates the practical value of the theoretical model.

1 INTRODUCTION

In the experience‑economy era, brands increasingly

rely on storytelling to communicate with consumers.

Stories endow brands with emotion and meaning.

Van Laer et al.(2014) pointed out that narratives

could transport audiences into the world depicted by

the story, markedly enhancing acceptance of and

engagement with brand information. For example,

Chanel's core narrative centres on Coco Chanel’s

personal legend, vividly conveying freedom,

confidence and independence, and immersing

consumers in the brand ethos.

Although existing research has offered

preliminary insights into the link between brand

narratives and consumer psychology, the specific

pathways by which stories transform into deep-level

brand attachment remain under-explored. In

particular, whether story-evoked emotions and

identity act as bridging mechanisms is still

inconclusive. Brand attachment, as a strong emotional

bond, may form via more dynamic and complex

processes than general attitudes, yet prior studies often

measure it as a static outcome.

In light of this context, this study introduces

narrative‑transportation theory to focus on how brand

stories influence consumer brand attachment, with

special attention to the mediating roles of emotional

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3106-0377

response and social identity. A conceptual model-

"narrative transportation → emotional response /

social identity → brand attachment”-is constructed

and empirically tested. The study collects consumers

’ subjective experiences and attitudinal data after

exposure to brand stories and applies mediation-effect

analysis to verify the roles of emotional response and

social identity. Specifically, this study aims to

(1) explore the positive impact of narrative

transportation on brand attachment;

(2) test the mediating effects of emotional response

and social identity;

(3) provide evidence-based optimization advice for

brand storytelling.

This study enriches narrative-communication and

brand-relationship theories and offers practical

guidance for companies to strengthen attachment

through emotional-resonance design and community-

identity cultivation.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND

HYPOTHESES

2.1 Brand Narratives and Narrative

Transportation Theory

A brand narrative is a story‑based vehicle through

which a brand conveys its philosophy, values and

328

Niu, J.

The Impact of Narrative Transportation on Consumer Brand Attachment: A Mechanism Study with Emotional Response and Social Identity as Dual Mediators.

DOI: 10.5220/0013843800004719

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on E-commerce and Modern Logistics (ICEML 2025), pages 328-333

ISBN: 978-989-758-775-7

image and engages consumers on an emotional level.

When consumers are transported by a brand story,

they experience heightened attention, vivid imagery

and strong emotional involvement (Van Laer et al.,

2014), making them more receptive to the viewpoints

and feelings communicated by the story. Escalas

(2004) showed that narrative processing prompted

consumers to integrate their own experiences into the

plot, creating self‑brand links that render the brand

personally meaningful and irreplaceable. Overall,

carefully crafted stories can, through narrative

transportation, enhance consumers’ emotional

investment and cognitive acceptance of the brand

2.2 Brand Attachment: Concept and

Measurement

Brand attachment denotes the strong emotional bond

and dependency consumers form toward a brand—

the deepest and most affect‑laden tie in consumer–

brand relationships. Unlike general liking or

preference, attachment manifests as consumers’

treating the brand as an extension of the self and

investing person‑like emotions in it.

Thomson et al. (2005) verified that attachment

comprises affection, passion and connection, is

distinct from satisfaction, involvement or attitude,

and predicts loyalty behaviours. Compared with

simple favourable attitudes, emotional attachment

motivates greater time and monetary investment and

stronger persistence.

Recent studies further verify high‑order

outcomes of attachment. Islam et al. (2021) showed

that brand love enhanced attachment, which in turn

strengthens repurchase intention and positive

word‑of‑mouth among Chinese smartphone users.

Complementing this, Sun et al. (2024) demonstrated

that attachment significantly raised consumers’

willingness to pay a price premium

(β = 0.41, p < 0.001) and increases brand forgiveness,

thus providing behavioural, price and reputational

“moats”.

However, existing research focuses on

long‑term interactions and factors such as product

performance or symbolic meaning, paying little

attention to how a single storytelling exposure might

cultivate attachment in the short term. Consequently,

theoretical views on attachment formation lack

empirical support. It is therefore necessary to explore,

from a psychological‑mechanism perspective, what

kinds of brand stories trigger what kinds of consumer

responses that deepen attachment. The following

subsections review emotional response and social

identity theories to lay the groundwork for hypothesis

development.

2.3 Emotional‑Response Mechanism:

Story‑Evoked Affect

Emotional response refers to the immediate feelings

(e.g., excitement, sympathy) that arise when

consumers encounter a brand story. These emotions

not only signal narrative immersion but also influence

subsequent brand evaluations and relationships.

Narrative psychology holds that vivid characters and

situations evoke empathic responses, creating “as‑if”

experiences (Escalas & Stern, 2003). Richins (1997)

systematically catalogued consumption emotions,

noting that consumers experience a wide array of

feelings and identifying “love” as both common and

intense; consumers often become attached to

cherished objects. Even though advertising stories are

vicarious, the emotional resonance generated by such

surrogate experiences still exerts a significant impact

on brand attitude.

In storytelling contexts, emotional response

serves as a bridge linking story and attachment.

Escalas (2004) showed that resonance generated

during narrative advertising strengthens personal

connections to the brand, tinting the brand image with

corresponding affect. Positive feelings elicited by

story events are transferred to the brand and elevate

attachment. For example, Nike’s “Just Do It”

campaign often narrates athletes overcoming

adversity. Kusumasondjaja and Tjiptono (2020)

found that stronger self‑referencing and narrative

transportation in story ads transfer positive emotions

to the brand, thereby enhancing attitudes and

behavioural intentions.

Accordingly, this study treats emotional response

as a core mediator, measures the intensity of

consumers’ emotions after exposure and tests its

effect on attachment. This study hypothesises that the

stronger the positive emotions evoked by a brand

story, the higher the level of consumer attachment.

2.4 Social‑Identity Mechanism: Brand

Identity and Group Belonging

Beyond emotions, brand stories may influence

consumers through social identity. Stets and Burke

(2021) argued that social identity constituted a

fundamental component of the self-concept, arising

from one’s awareness of belonging to a particular

social group and the emotional and value significance

attached to that membership. Driven by the

motivation to maintain a favourable self-image, such

The Impact of Narrative Transportation on Consumer Brand Attachment: A Mechanism Study with Emotional Response and Social Identity

as Dual Mediators

329

identity leads individuals to display in group bias and

act in ways that protect group interests. In

consumption, brands often act as “human like

groups”: consumers who identify with a brand’s

lifestyle or values align themselves with the

community it aggregates. Zhou and Wong (2023)

defined consumer–brand identification as the

perceived oneness between consumer and brand—

feeling the brand is “one of us”.

Once this identification emerges, consumers treat

the brand as a self-extension or group member,

exhibiting high loyalty and supportive behaviours.

For instance, Apple users, identifying with the

“Think Different” credo, view themselves as

members of an innovator community; Harley

Davidson riders, inspired by the brand’s freedom and

brotherhood culture, form tightly knit tribes. These

are classic cases of brand induced social identity.

Ellemers et al. (1999) distinguished cognitive,

evaluative and affective commitment dimensions of

social identity, with affective commitment best

predicting in group preference and loyalty.

Translating to branding, only when consumers feel

belonging and emotional dependence on the brand

community will attachment truly flourish. Brand

stories are a potent means of reinforcing this identity:

when a story conveys group values or symbols that

align with consumers’ self-values, identity arises and

attachment increases. This insight implies that if a

story makes consumers think “this brand shares my

beliefs”, brand attachment is likely to grow. To

empirically examine this, this study incorporates

social identity-operationalised as consumers’ brand

identification and sense of belonging-into the model.

2.5 Integrated Framework and

Research Hypotheses

In summary, brand stories-as a pivotal

marketing‑communication format-can, via narrative

transportation, influence emotional resonance and

social identity, thereby shaping brand relationships.

Yet prior studies usually examine emotion or identity

in isolation, lacking integrated comparison, and

seldom address the deep outcome of brand

attachment. This gap forms the basis of the present

study. Accordingly, this study proposes a

dual‑mediator model with emotional response and

social identity to examine how brand narratives

jointly affect consumer attachment. A questionnaire

survey and mediation‑effect analysis will reveal the

internal mechanisms, offering theoretical support and

practical guidance for story strategy.

3 RESEARCH METHOD

3.1 Sample and Data Collection

This study gathered 117 valid responses via an online

questionnaire. Control variables included

respondents’ self‑selected story formats and contact

channels. Story formats were dominated by

commercials, illustrated articles and short videos

(88.9 %), with livestreams and user‑generated content

less frequent. Contact channels were mainly online—

social media, short‑video platforms and television

together accounted for 73 % of exposures.

3.2 Measurement of Variables

All constructs were measured on five-point Likert

scales (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree).

Revisions are as follows:

1. Narrative Transportation Scale: adapted from

Van Laer et al. (2014), retaining the three core

dimensions of focused attention, mental imagery and

narrative presence. To fit brand story contexts, two

adjustments were made:

1.1 Emphasising “concealment of persuasive

intent” to reflect the theoretical claim that

transportation lowers consumers’ defences

(Green & Brock, 2000).

1.2 Operationalising “verisimilitude” as

“perceived consistency between the brand story

and real-life experience” to gauge narrative logic

alignment with consumer experience.

2. Brand Attachment Scale: seven item version

revised from Thomson et al. (2005).

3. Emotional Response Scale: dimensions

referenced from Richins (1997).

4. Social Identity Scale: items adapted from

Ellemers et al. (1999)’s group commitment model.

4 RESEARCH RESULTS

4.1 Reliability and Validity Tests

Using SPSS, this study conducted reliability analysis

on the measurement items of the four variables—

narrative transportation, emotional response, social

identity and brand attachment. As shown in Table 1,

all Cronbach’s α values exceed 0.74, indicating good

internal consistency.

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Table 1: Cronbach's α ratio of each variable.

Variable Items

Cronbach's α ratio

Narrative

Transportation

4 0.742

Emotional Response 4 0.775

Social Identit

3 0.828

Brand Attachment 4 0.840

Before validity testing, Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin

(KMO) and Bartlett’s test of sphericity were

performed. The overall KMO value is 0.895 (> 0.70),

and Bartlett’s approximate χ² is 593.366 (p < 0.001),

indicating suitability for factor analysis. Accordingly,

both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and

confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were employed.

In the principal-component extraction, items with

factor loadings below the acceptance threshold were

iteratively removed. As shown in Table 2, all retained

loadings exceed 0.50, demonstrating satisfactory

convergent validity.

Table 2: Rotated component matrix

Item (abbreviated)

Narrative

Transportation

Emotional

Response

Social Identity

Brand

Attachment

“I could almost see the characters in front

of me.”

0.793 -0.006 0.351 0.210

“While experiencing the story, I

temporarily forgot its commercial intent.”

0.82 0.341 0.028 0.132

“I was moved by the persistence behind the

brand.”

0.273 0.538 0.508 0.177

“If negative plot points are resolved, I feel

relieved.”

0.151 0.850 0.128 0.267

“The brand’s actions deserve praise.” 0.149 0.468 0.654 0.151

“Using the brand in social settings makes

me feel recognised.”

0.071 0.117 0.802 0.332

“I prefer supporting this brand over

others.”

0.281 0.072 0.747 0.375

“This brand is part of my life.” 0.137 0.128 0.304 0.821

“If the brand errs, I still give it a chance.” 0.303 0.213 0.068 0.753

“I proactively follow the brand’s

social-media accounts.”

0.033 0.234 0.354 0.698

“I am willing to pay a higher price for this

brand.”

0.112 0.098 0.496 0.633

4.2 Hypothesis Testing

Baron and Kenny’s stepwise regression was used to

test the mediating roles of emotional response and

social identity. As shown in Table 3, Model 1 shows

that narrative transportation positively predicts brand

attachment (β = 0.457, p < 0.001; R² = 0.209). In

Models 2 and 3, narrative transportation positively

predicts emotional response (β = 0.508, p < 0.001)

and social identity (β = 0.462, p < 0.001),

respectively.

The Impact of Narrative Transportation on Consumer Brand Attachment: A Mechanism Study with Emotional Response and Social Identity

as Dual Mediators

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Table 3: Regression models for hypothesis testing

Dependent

Variable

Independent

Variable

β t R Adjusted R² Sig.

Model 1

Brand

Attachment

Narrative

Transportation

0.457 5.515 0.457a 0.202 <.001

Model 2

Emotional

Response

Narrative

Transportation

0.508 6.328 .508a 0.252 <.001

Model3

Social

Identity

Narrative

Transportation

0.462 5.588 0.462a 0.207 <.001

Model4

Brand

Attachment

Narrative

Transportation

0.116 1.487

0.457a 0.202

0.14

Emotional

Response

0.213 2.491 0.014

Social Identity 0.505 6.068 <.001

After adding the mediators (Model 4), emotional

response and social identity remain significant

predictors of brand attachment, whereas the direct

effect of narrative transportation becomes non-

significant. This indicates that narrative

transportation influences brand attachment indirectly

through the dual mediators; emotional response and

social identity each exhibit full mediation.

5 DISCUSSION AND PRACTICAL

IMPLICATIONS

5.1 Theoretical Contributions

This study integrates narrative transportation and

brand attachment, offering the first empirical

revelation of the full mediating effects of emotional

response and social identity. It refines the pathway

through which narratives drive deep brand

relationships, addressing the theoretical gap in

understanding how short-term communication shapes

attachment mechanisms.

5.2 Managerial Recommendations:

Dual-Path Optimization Strategies

Based on findings regarding full mediation effects,

this study proposed the following dual-path

implementation strategies.

First, refined implementation of emotional

resonance design. Enterprises should adopt a

multimodal sensory-coordinated narrative approach.

For instance, brand stories could integrate auditory

elements (custom theme music), visual symbols

(dynamic ink-painting animations), and tactile

simulations (e.g., IKEA's VR system recreating

product usage scenarios) to amplify emotional

contagion through multisensory stimulation.

Concurrently, semantic big data could track collective

emotional fluctuations—for example, applying NLP

sentiment analysis to Weibo comments to identify

cyclical emotional keywords like "healing aesthetics"

or "nostalgic themes"—enabling dynamic narrative

adjustments.

Second, tiered cultivation of community identity.

Organizations should establish a hierarchical user

participation system incorporating UGC into official

narratives. Aligning with Jin et al.'s (2023) "co-

creation polarization" theory, brands can leverage

algorithmic weighting mechanisms (e.g., Douyin's

Star Graph UGC heat index) to identify high-impact

user-generated content, achieving exponential

dissemination of community influence. Illustrative

cases include Mixue Ice Cream transforming user-

created "Snow King" emojis into official IP

derivatives (Luo, 2022), and Huawei strengthening its

"autonomous technology" cultural identity through

the "HarmonyOS" naming strategy, tripling users'

willingness to share brand stories. Reference could

also be made to NIO Inc.'s tiered community

architecture ("Product Ambassador-Seed User-

Regular Owner"), which enhances belonging through

role empowerment.

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5.3 Limitations and Future Directions

This study has two primary limitations: First, sample

selection bias exists due to uncontrolled age-gender

interaction effects. Existing research reveals

Generation Z's attachment coefficient (β=0.62) to

virtual IPs significantly exceeds that of seniors

(β=0.29) (Zhou & Wong, 2023), necessitating future

intergenerational comparisons. Second, scale

measurements inadequately capture subconscious

dynamics. Follow-up studies could employ

neuroimaging to track biomarkers of attachment

formation. Furthermore, moderating effects of

individual traits on narrative transportation require

exploration—for instance, high-openness individuals

show 1.8 times stronger preference for metaphorical

narratives than low-openness counterparts. This

demands brand storytellers to align narrative design

with audience psychological profiles.

6 CONCLUSION

This study investigated how brand narratives shaped

consumer brand attachment through the dual

psychological routes of emotional response and social

identity. Using a survey of 117 Chinese consumers

exposed to real brand stories and applying Baron and

Kenny’s mediation procedure, the author tested a

conceptual model grounded in

narrative‑transportation theory. Results confirmed

that narrative transportation has no direct effect on

attachment once mediators are entered; instead,

positive emotions and brand‑specific social identity

each fully transmit the influence, jointly

explaining 58 % of the variance in attachment.

Robustness checks showed the pattern holds across

gender and product categories. Managerially, the

author proposes a two‑path storytelling playbook.

First, design fine‑grained emotional resonance by

combining multi‑sensory cues with real‑time

sentiment mining to keep stories personally moving.

Second, cultivate layered community identity by

encouraging user‑generated stories, role‑based

participation, and culturally symbolic memes that

make consumers feel “one of us”. Theoretically, the

study extends narrative‑transportation research by

integrating affective and identity mechanisms into a

single framework, demonstrating that even short‑term

narrative encounters can spark deep relationship

bonds previously thought to arise only from

long‑term brand experiences. This integrative lens

opens avenues for future work on how story form and

audience traits jointly affect the effectiveness of each

mediating mechanism. Overall, findings enrich

branding literature, offer actionable guidance for

marketers seeking defensible loyalty advantages, and

highlight the power of stories to transform

momentary attention into durable emotional capital.

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