Storytelling as a Method of Increasing the Engagement of Market Research Participants

The presented study is a partial replication of the effect discovered in the author’s previous studies on the influence of storytelling techniques on quantitative market research participant engagement. The study was conducted using the CAWI method on a nationwide sample of N=517. In the experimental group, all questions were asked in a narrative form and were part of a coherent story. The traditional approach was used with the control group. An additional independent variable was the moment of giving instructions containing storytelling elements: before or after the presentation of the advertisement The results replicate the main effect showing that using storytelling makes the respondents more engaged and thus more productive. The Presented experiment also proved that integrating all the questions into a story makes the manipulation effect last longer – the respondents’ engagement was maintained also in the case of detailed questions. Depending on the question, giving instructions after the presentation of the material was associated with equal or greater effectiveness of the storytelling used. This proves that manipulation is also effective in a situation where instruction has no chance of influencing the way the material is viewed. The article presents a new method for increasing the engagement of market research respondents. The use of storytelling has great potential in the practice of research companies in quantitative and qualitative research. The results replicate the main effect showing that using storytelling makes the respondents more engaged and thus more productive. The presented experiment also proved that integrating all the questions into a story makes the manipulation effect last longer. The respondents’ engagement was maintained also in the case of detailed questions. Additionally, giving instructions after the presentation of the material was associated with greater or similar, depending on the question, effectiveness of the storytelling used. This proves that manipulation is also effective in a situation where the instruction has no chance of influencing the way the material is viewed. The article presents a new method for increasing the engagement of market research respondents. The use of storytelling has great potential in research companies’ quantitative and qualitative research.