Storytelling as a Strategic Tool in Influencer Marketing: Impact on Engagement, Authenticity and Purchase Intent

Kerui Huang

Studies in Media and Communication, 2026, vol. 14, issue 1, 291-303

Abstract: Storytelling has become an important strategic tool in influencer marketing and transformed how engagement, authenticity and purchase-intent is perceived among audiences. This study investigated how influencers on Instagram and TikTok narratively integrate products into personal, brand-related, or lifestyle storylines. Utilizing Narrative Transportation Theory and Source Credibility Theory, the study used a qualitative thematic analysis of six influencers in fashion, lifestyle, technology and financial spaces. Results indicate three archetypal modes of storytelling. Storytelling based upon personal experience encourages consumers to become involved and perceive emotionally, and this resonates with narrative transportation, as well as means of supply that are personal and relatable. Brand-focused story-telling highlights competence and credibility, increasing trust and inviting questions on the purchase side. Life-integrated narrating places products in the story-rich contexts of aspirational practices and identity work, fostering parasocial closeness and everyday authenticity. Cross-platform comparison shows that identical narrative strategies produce different engagement cues, depending on the affordances of the platform. This work contributes to theoretical research by illustrating that also micro-narratives can induce transportation and credibility effects and by refining the boundary conditions of these theories in influencer settings. Contributions include explication of the connections between narrative modes and dimensions of credibility and the medium specific operation of persuasion. These findings highlight the importance for marketers to employ personalized storytelling tactics that combine narrative immersion and perceived authenticity to enhance consumer responses and intention to purchase.

Date: 2026
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