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Long story short : Exploring the occurrence and effects of narrative strategies in book blurbs
Oude Heuvel, Nicole J. M. (2025) Long story short : Exploring the occurrence and effects of narrative strategies in book blurbs.
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| Abstract: | Purpose. A crucial facet of book marketing is the blurb, which aims to describe the plot and persuade the reader to purchase the book. However, knowledge regarding the blurb’s comprising narrative strategies, as well as the effects they elicit, is scarce. Additionally, book marketing employs narrative transportation, which appears when the reader is absorbed in the narrative. Narrative transportation is noted to occur in movies and books, although its appearance in blurbs is yet unrevealed. Through two types of research, this study aimed to explore the narrative strategies occurring in book blurbs within the Young Adult genre, additionally inquiring the effects these strategies elicit regarding narrative transportation, attitude, and purchase intention. Method. Research 1 investigated the appearing narrative strategies in blurbs through a content analysis. Two narrative strategies, Perspective and Worldbuilding, were selected for research 2, which consisted of an experiment. The experiment examined the possible occurrence of narrative transportation as well as the effects provoked on attitude and purchase intention. Results. The content analysis revealed that blurbs maintained consistent with their purpose, to describe the plot, as frequently occurring narrative strategies centred around plot aspects. Concerning series, the majority of the codes occurred equally among series or solely in sequels. Further, the majority of the codes were applied in the Fantasy sub-genre. The experiment produced insignificant results for narrative transportation, attitude, and purchase intention, with marginal differences between Perspective and Worldbuilding. Conclusion. This study obtained insights into the narrative strategies occurring in Young Adult blurbs and the effects that strategies Perspective and Worldbuilding elicit. The findings provide a guideline for authors and publishers who desire a concept on how to write blurbs in the Young Adult genre, albeit this study highlights the liberty the writing process could possess regarding the utilisation of narrative strategies, since the contrast in their effects is insignificant. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies, 18 languages and literature |
| Programme: | Communication Science MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/107577 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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