Let me tell you a story
How companies appeal to your emotions
We have always been surrounded by stories: they are our bedtime stories, our favourite books, series and movies and even in our favourite songs. They seem simple at first, but by looking into them, we realise they have masterfully developed techniques that play with our emotions. Brands realised this a long time ago and have been using storytelling techniques in their communication and advertising efforts ever since. By relying on storytelling, brands develop brand personas and brand narratives that allow them to develop long-lasting emotional connections with their costumers, gaining their loyalty and support.
Storytelling is transversal to human life, as we express ourselves through stories, which make it easier for us to recall information while also appealing to our emotions (Kang et al, 2020). The use of stories in order to persuade and to appeal to emotion can be traced back to the Bible and the biblical stories, to Aristotle in Ancient Greece, to the great Roman orators, like Cicero and Quintilian, and even to your favourite candy brand! If one has the patience, it is possible to find immense treatises on how to use speech, stories, and language to persuade people.
Nowadays, this ancient art of telling stories has been adapted to the new media environment and is one of the most…
