How emotional narrative advertising shapes brand attitudes and behavioral intentions: exploring the mediating mechanisms of positive emotion and narrative absorption through the S–O–R lens

Background Emotional narrative advertising has become increasingly prevalent in contemporary marketing, emphasizing affective engagement and immersive experiences rather than purely informational appeals. However, the internal psychological mechanisms through which emotional storytelling influences consumer attitudes and behaviors remain insufficiently explored. This study draws upon the principles of positive psychology and the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S–O–R) framework to investigate the impact of emotional advertisements on consumers’ brand attitudes and behavioral intentions. The study explores how affective and cognitive processes influence these attitudes and intentions. Methods A two-stage experimental design was adopted. The pretest ( N = 100) validated the manipulation of advertising type (emotional vs. functional). The primary experiment ( N = 713) examined the hypothesized relationships by employing PROCESS v4.1 (Model 4 and Model 6). The independent variable in this study was advertising type; the dependent variables were brand attitude, repurchase intention, and word-of-mouth intention; positive affect and narrative absorption acted as mediators. Results The findings indicate that emotional narrative advertising has a substantial impact on positive affect and narrative absorption, which, in turn, play a mediating role in the relationship between ad type and brand attitude. Additionally, narrative absorption exerts indirect effects on repurchase and word-of-mouth intentions, thereby supporting the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotion. The findings underscore the presence of two discrete yet interconnected mediating pathways—affective and immersive processing—in the context of emotional advertising effectiveness. Conclusion Integrating positive psychology with the S–O–R framework, this study offers a refined psychological explanation of how emotional storytelling fosters stronger brand attachment and behavioral intention. The findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of emotional persuasion mechanisms and provide actionable insights for the design of emotionally engaging brand communications.