Storytelling in e-commerce: Why a good story makes the difference between a slow seller and a bestseller
Storytelling works. With their “Significant Objects” experiment, Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn have impressively and simply demonstrated the impact storytelling can have on the sales of even the most mundane products. They auctioned off items on eBay that they had previously bought in junk shops and at flea markets, including a bucket, a yo-yo or a tile with the number four on it. The average purchase price of the first 100 products was 1.29 US dollars. On average, they were auctioned for 36.12 US dollars. Where did the price increase of over 2,700 per cent come from? Through stories. The two initiators hired professional authors who wrote a fictional narrative description for each item. From the authors’ perspective, the difference between the selling price and the purchase price represents the objective value of the story. A plastic panpipe, for example, had an original value of one US dollar. A story increased the auction price to 63.50 US dollars.
The effect that stories have on our actions leads us to the question of why we as humans tell stories at all. From the earliest times of cave paintings to the 21st century, the most important function of stories has been to share experiences that prepare us for real life. Stories are like a catalogue of possible courses of action for situations we have not yet experienced ourselves, or a “flight simulator for our brains”. They offer simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act), for example for a purchase.
