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The Influence of Paratext on Narrative Persuasion: Fact, Fiction, or Fake?
Article first published online: 5 SEP 2012
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2012.01432.x
© 2012 International Communication Association
Additional Information
How to Cite
Appel, M. and Malečkar, B. (2012), The Influence of Paratext on Narrative Persuasion: Fact, Fiction, or Fake?. Human Communication Research, 38: 459–484. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2012.01432.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 5 SEP 2012
- Article first published online: 5 SEP 2012
- Abstract
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The present research examined the role of personality factors and paratextual information about the reliability of a story on its persuasiveness. Study 1 (N = 135) was focused on recipients' explicit expectations about the trustworthiness/usefulness and the immersiveness/entertainment value of stories introduced as nonfiction, fiction, or fake. Study 2 (experimental, N = 186) demonstrated that a story was persuasive in all three paratext conditions (nonfiction, fiction, or fake versus belief-unrelated control story) and that its influence increased with the recipients' need for affect. Participants' need for cognition increased the difference in persuasiveness of a nonfictional versus a fake story. Additional mediation analyses suggest that fiction is more persuasive than fake because readers of fiction get more deeply transported into the story world.