BEYOND TRANSPORTATION: BRAND-MEANING TRANSFER IN DIGITAL STORYTELLING ADVERTISING AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW AND RESEARCH AGENDA FOR FMCG DAIRY MARKETING IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Purpose – Narrative transportation is a central explanation for the persuasive effects of storytelling, yet transportation alone cannot explain why some involving stories strengthen brands while others generate attention, emotion and entertainment with weak brand consequences. This article addresses that problem by distinguishing immersion in a narrative from the subsequent transfer of narrative meaning to the advertised brand.

Approach – The article develops a theory-building integrative review of research on narrative advertising, narrative transportation, brand storytelling, advertising creativity, consumer-brand evaluation, digital advertising, food marketing, and FMCG consumption. Evidence is synthesized around a sequential mechanism comprising narrative design, narrative transportation, brand-meaning transfer, consumer evaluation, and growth-relevant consumer outcomes. FMCG dairy advertising and Pakistan are used as theoretically informative boundary contexts rather than as geographic gaps.

Findings – The literature supports transportation as an important psychological mechanism, but it does not warrant treating transportation as sufficient for brand effectiveness. The review therefore introduces brand-meaning transfer as the process through which values, emotions, identities, and causal meanings activated by a story become associated with the focal brand. Narrative brand fit, authenticity, cultural resonance, platform affordances, and category characteristics are proposed as conditions shaping this process.

Originality/value – The article separates story effectiveness from advertising effectiveness. It explains how a narrative may succeed as content while failing as advertising and offers a conditional process architecture linking narrative design to transportation, brand-meaning transfer, consumer evaluation, and growth-relevant consumer outcomes. The framework generates testable propositions for digital FMCG advertising and a context-sensitive research agenda for Pakistan’s dairy sector.