Storytelling is a powerful marketing tool that helps brands create emotional connections with their audience. For luxury hotel brands, Instagram provides a visual and narrative-rich platform to showcase their unique offerings. This study examines the effects of narrative transportation—the psychological immersion into a story—on brand trust and e-WOM intention.

Two key factors in effective storytelling are comprehension fluency and imagery fluency. Comprehension fluency refers to how easily consumers understand visual and textual information, while imagery fluency relates to their ability to create mental images based on the content. The study finds that both factors significantly influence narrative transportation, leading to higher brand trust and e-WOM intention.

The study shows that men and women react differently to luxury hotel brands' posts on Instagram. They understand and interact with the content in unique ways, which changes their e-WOM behaviours. For example, men are driven by how immersed they feel in the story, while women are influenced by how much they trust the brand, which ultimately affects their intention to share brand-related content online.

Practical Applications for Luxury Hotel Brands

Based on these findings, luxury hotel brands can tailor their Instagram marketing strategies to better engage specific gender segments. Here are some practical recommendations:

Enhancing Comprehension and Imagery Fluency: Ensure that Instagram content is clear, concise, and easy to understand. Use high-quality images, first-person point of view, and emotionally rich narratives that evoke strong mental imagery, helping consumers to immerse themselves in the brand story.

Strengthening trust in female consumers: Since the study shows that brand trust is crucial for women's e-WOM intention, luxury hotel brands should focus on reliable, transparent policies, and consistently high-quality services to build trust. Social media managers should regularly engage with female customers through surveys and targeted Instagram posts, address issues raised in comments, and share customers' posts to enhance the brand image and foster trust-based relationships.

Enhancing narrative transportation in male consumers: The research also shows that narrative transportation has a stronger impact on e-WOM intention among male consumers. Instagram features like Instagram Live can be used to broadcast virtual hotel tours and Q&A sessions, enhancing users' immersive experiences. Additionally, the hotel brand can collaborate with popular influencers to create reels sharing their personal experiences at the hotel. Reposting influencer content on the hotel's page can trigger narrative transportation and inspire users to seek similar luxury travel experiences, while also serving as entertainment.

In conclusion, luxury hotel brands can significantly enhance their Instagram marketing strategies by considering gender-based differences in consumer responses. By focusing on storytelling, comprehension fluency, and imagery fluency, brands can build stronger emotional connections with their audience, leading to higher immersion, brand trust and e-WOM intention. This tailored approach ensures that marketing efforts are more effective, engaging, and ultimately, more successful. This study underscores the importance of a nuanced approach to social media marketing, one that considers the unique preferences and behaviours of different consumer segments. By doing so, luxury hotel brands can achieve greater engagement and drive long-term loyalty among their diverse audience. 

Dr Anuja S Chalke
Sunway Business School
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Assoc Prof Dr Cheng Boon Liat
Sunway Business School
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