Narrative Persuasion in Health Communication
Summary
Narrative persuasion in health communication harnesses the power of storytelling to influence attitudes, beliefs and behaviours related to health. Unlike expository or statistical presentations, narratives engage cognitive and emotional processes, allowing recipients to become immersed in a storyline, identify with characters and experience emotional resonance. Established theoretical frameworks, such as the Transportation–Imagery Model, propose that deep engagement—known as transportation—combined with identification with a protagonist intensifies message impact. Exemplification theory highlights how concrete exemplars can render abstract health information more relatable and memorable. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of narratives in promoting screening intentions, vaccine uptake and lifestyle changes across diverse populations. Central to these outcomes are mechanisms of emotional appeal, self-efficacy enhancement and perceived similarity between audience and narrative characters. Narrative strategies have been applied globally in campaigns targeting cancer screening, infectious disease prevention and chronic illness management. Practical considerations include tailoring story content to audience demographics, balancing emotional valence and ensuring ethical transparency to prevent manipulation. Ongoing debate surrounds the optimal integration of factual information and narrative elements to maximise persuasion without compromising credibility or autonomy.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Narrative Persuasion in Health Communication publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in narrative persuasion in health communication across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Narrative persuasion: The process by which stories influence beliefs, attitudes and behaviours through engagement with characters and plot.
Transportation: A psychological state of immersion in a story, characterised by suspension of disbelief and focused attention.
Identification: The audience’s sense of connection with a narrative character, fostering empathy and self-relevance.
Processing fluency: The ease with which information is cognitively processed, linked to greater perceived truthfulness and persuasion.
Emotional appeal: The strategic use of emotions (e.g., hope, fear) in messaging to motivate behavioural intentions.
References
- Narrative Messages and the Use of Emotional Appeals on Endometriosis Screening Intention: The Mediating Role of Positive Affect. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2023).
- Using Narrative Evidence to Convey Health Information on Social Media: The Case of COVID-19. Journal of Medical Internet Research (2021).
- Narratives are Persuasive Because They are Easier to Understand: Examining Processing Fluency as a Mechanism of Narrative Persuasion. Frontiers in Communication (2021).
- “Hey, that could be me”: The role of similarity in narrative persuasion. PLOS ONE (2019).
- Empowering Stories: Transportation into Narratives with Strong Protagonists Increases Self-Related Control Beliefs. Discourse Processes (2018).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.