The Story of Storytelling Effects in Sustainability Communication: A Systematic Literature Review on the Evidence-Base

Activity: Talk or presentationConference PresentationsResearch

Daniel Fischer - Speaker

    Sustainable development is a notoriously complex concept that integrates different dimensions (e.g. planetary boundaries and socio-economic foundations), topics (e.g. climate change, poverty, consumption), scales (e.g. spatially and temporally), as well as different normative assumptions (e.g. weak vs. strong sustainability). With these features, sustainable development is often considered a concept too ubiquitous and elusive to address and convey in different communication venues like science communication. At the same time, acknowledging that sustainable development requires participation and deliberation, communication scholars and practitioners are called upon to develop approaches that enable a broader public engagement with sustainability as a guiding idea for the development of societies.
    In the search for new and promising approaches to reach new audiences and social segments in sustainability communication, the storytelling approach has received growing attention in the past years. Although it is awarded high potential, so far there are only a few projects in the area of sustainability communication that integrate this approach in a systematic and sound manner. At the same time, despite a great deal of practical interest (for example in journalism, corporate and health communication), there is a paucity of empirical research substantiating the effectiveness of the storytelling approach.
    This paper addresses this gap. It reports findings of a systematic literature review on empirical effects (both quantitative and qualitative) of storytelling reported in the peer-reviewed journal literature. From an initial database sample of N=596 papers, we excluded papers that were not empirical, not studying storytelling as a communication approach and/or not exploring effects of this communication approach on individual recipients. Our final sample of remaining papers was analyzed for definitions of storytelling underpinning the use of the approach, description of the storytelling approach employed, target audiences, study designs and methodological approaches used, and effects reported.
    Our review finds that empirical research on storytelling is scattered across a high number of different disciplines and based on diverse understandings of the approach itself. It is addressed most prominently in the fields of public health/medicine and education. Among the most commonly reported categories of effects are attentiveness, motivation as well as memorization. Based on our review, we present a typology of effects of storytelling and discuss its relevance for the field of sustainability communication. We conclude by offering a critical reflection of study designs and research approaches, and an agenda for future work in the field.


    Together with Anna Sundermann and Hanna Selm
    22.06.2018

    Event

    International Association for Media and Communication Research Conference - IAMCR 2018: "Reimagining Sustainability: Communication and Media Research in a Changing World"

    20.06.1824.06.18

    Eugene, Oregon, United States

    Event: Other

    Recently viewed

    Publications

    1. The role of human resource practices for including persons with disabilities in the workforce
    2. Zinc and cadmium accumulation in single zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos - A total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry application
    3. Data retention in the European Union
    4. The Eschatical Perfection of the World in God
    5. Cross-country differences in entrepreneurial activity
    6. Subsidies for learning in renewable energy technologies under market power and emission trading
    7. Incomplete aerobic degradation of the antidiabetic drug Metformin and identification of the bacterial dead-end transformation product Guanylurea
    8. Soziale Tatsachen
    9. Tablets im Sportunterricht!? Echt? Wow!
    10. Klassentestheft Teil 2 (10 Ex.) - 2. Schuljahr
    11. Integrating food security and biodiversity governance
    12. Stronger evidence for own-age effects in memory for older as compared to younger adults.
    13. From the plurality of transdisciplinarity to concrete transdisciplinary methods
    14. The impact of mindfulness on the wellbeing and performance of educators
    15. The strength of vertical linkages
    16. Crossing borders
    17. Decision Support for Crew Rostering in Public Transit
    18. Cues from Facial Expressions for Emotional Interfaces
    19. Party Goals, Institutional Veto Points and the Discourse on Political Corruption
    20. Participatory scenario planning in place-based social-ecological research
    21. On the Problematic Productivity of Hype
    22. Kundenintegration durch Additive Fertigung
    23. Correction to
    24. The evaluation of education yields at country level
    25. Tanja Dückers - Essay
    26. A longitudinal panel study on antecedents and outcomes of work-home interference
    27. Systematics of the ant genus proceratium roger (Hymenoptera, formicidae, proceratiinae) in China – with descriptions of three new species based on micro-CT enhanced next-generation-morphology
    28. Article 28 Relationship with Existing International Conventions
    29. 20-20-20 Competitiveness and Conflicts
    30. Ökonomischer Ansatz und die Theorie des Self-Command bei Thomas Schelling
    31. Incorporating anthropogenic effects into trophic ecology
    32. Contestation 'all the way down'?
    33. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and earnings management
    34. School Will Never End
    35. Connecting Some Dots
    36. Anspannung
    37. Performance Saga: Interview 04
    38. What influences environmental entrepreneurship? A multilevel analysis of the determinants of entrepreneurs’ environmental orientation