New
York
-
Amsterdam,
November
7th
2011
Storytelling
can
double
the
buying
intention.
As
is
shown
by
a
qualitative
study
conducted
by
CoolBrands
and
research
agency
3DAccountability,
the
latter
is
based
in
New
York.
It
shows
that
consumers
dont
buy
your
product,
service
or
idea,
but
they
are
primarily
interested
in
the
story
that
is
attached
to
it.
In
a
laboratory
setting
brands
like
OMO,
Pepsi
and
KLM
were
studied
compared
to
their
competitors,
by
presenting
these
brands
by
way
of
storytelling.
In
all
cases
there
a
positive
effect
was
perceived.
The
most
important
output:
-the
net
promotor
score
(would
you
recommend
this
brand
to
others)
for
OMO
(Unilever)
increased
with
33%;
-
the
buying
intention
for
Pepsi
doubled;
-
the
brand
attribute
I
would
like
to
work
for
DSM
increased
with
20%;
-
the
brand
attribute
Is
relevant
in
our
society
increased
with
76%.
Behavior
change
by
emotion
Maarten
Schfer
of
CoolBrands
regarding
the
results:
We
already
knew
that
information
is
processed
by
the
left
side
of
the
brain,
the
rational
side.
This
study
has
shown
that
information
that
is
incorporated
into
a
narrative
content,
triggers
emotion
and
is
processed
by
the
right
side
of
the
brain.
Furthermore
it
has
become
clear
that
emotions
can
lead
to
changes
in
behavior,
whereas
ratio
usually
only
changes
attitude.
Anouk
Papers
of
CoolBrands
adds
the
following:
Storytelling
does
not
only
influence
the
brand
perception
of
the
person
who
hears
the
story
first
hand.
Good
stories
travel
further.
So
the
influence
of
telling
a
good
story
to
1
person
can
go
way
beyond
the
brand
perception
of
this
individual.
This
offers
huge
opportunities
for
brands
in
a
time
in
which
classical
communication,
like
advertising,
is
working
less
and
less
well.
By
giving
people
a
message
in
a
narrative
way,
you
make
it
easier
for
them
to
transmit
this
message
to
peers,
according
to
Stephanie
Lopez
of
3DAccountability.
Buying
behavior
is
hugely
influenced
by
peer-to-peer
communication,
70%
of
purchase
decisions
are
based
on
peer-to-peer
influence.
This
study
shows
that
it
is
worthwhile
to
invest
in
storytelling,
because
this
is
the
driver
for
word-of-mouth.
////
NOTE
FOR
THE
EDITOR:
For
more
information
on
the
research
or
if
you
want
your
story
to
be
tested,
contact
Anouk
Pappers
at
anouk@coolbrands.org
or
Stephanie
Lopez
at
Stephanie@3daccountability.com.
CoolBrands
is
an
initiative
of
Maarten
Schfer
and
Anouk
Pappers.
They
also
initiated
the
following
projects:
CoolTravel,
CoolTravel
Forest
and
CoolSustainability.
Porter
Novelli
takes
care
of
all
PR
and
communication
for
the
Cool
projects
since
2002.
The
research
methodology
In
an
experimental
research
design,
we
tested
5
sets
of
2
brands,
by
means
of
a
qualitative
market
research.
Each
brand
tested
was
and
compared
to
a
competitive
control
brand.
The
pretest
asked
about
familiarity,
consideration,
top
pick
and
net
promotor
score
(NPS).
Next
to
this,
we
checked
some
brand
attributes
to
get
insight
into
the
brand
imagery.
After
the
pretest,
the
50
students
were
part
of
a
guestlecture.
During
this
guestlecture
the
stories
of
the
5
test
brands
have
been
shared.
After
the
guestlecture,
the
students
participated
in
the
post-test.
The
post-test
checked
the
same
aspects
as
the
pretest,
to
make
comparison
optimal.
The
research
has
been
conducted
by
CoolBrands
House
and
3DAccountability,
based
on
a
research
methodology
developed
by
the
latter,
based
in
New
York.