The Influence of Storytelling in Luxury Hotel Short Videos on Hotel Brand Attitude: The Mediating Role of Narrative Engagement

ABSTRACT This study applies narrative transportation theory to explore how narrative storytelling in luxury hotel short videos influences viewers' narrative engagement and attitude towards the hotel brand via two studies. Study 1 employs a single‐factor between‐subjects experiment to investigate the influence of narrative content (utilitarian value‐oriented vs. hedonic value‐oriented) on hotel brand attitude through narrative engagement. Study 2 adopts a between‐subjects experimental design with a 2 × 2 factorial structure to investigate the interaction effect of narrative content (utilitarian value‐oriented vs. hedonic value‐oriented) and narrative point of view (first‐person vs. third‐person) on narrative engagement and hotel brand attitude. The results indicate that compared to utilitarian value‐oriented content, hedonic value‐oriented content elicits a higher level of narrative engagement and positively affects viewer attitude towards the hotel brand. Furthermore, the narrative point of view moderates the effect of narrative content on narrative engagement and hotel brand attitude.