How storytelling helps entrepreneurs gain access to external resources: The role of narrative persuasion

Drawing on theories of narrative persuasion, we formulate and test a theoretical model that extends our understanding of the persuasive effects of storytelling on early-stage investors' evaluative judgments regarding entrepreneurial opportunities, articulating the specific mechanisms through which these effects take place. We conducted an experiment with 188 active angel investors and found that storytelling, a form of communication, influences investors' opportunity perceptions and that this influence goes through the investors' degree of identification with the entrepreneurs and their assessments of the entrepreneurs' level of motivation. Some of these effects are amplified by the use of intense language. These findings contribute to our understanding of the persuasive role of storytelling in the context of entrepreneurial resource access specifically and managerial judgment and decision-making more generally.