The persuasive effects of narratives: a systematic review of reviews

Abstract This systematic review of reviews aimed to determine whether and the extent to which narratives were persuasive. Our analysis of 30 systematic reviews revealed an overall persuasive advantage of narratives with a few nuances. First, the evidence was mixed when narratives were compared to statistics. In contrast, narratives showed greater persuasiveness when compared to other types of control. Second, patient narratives aided medical decision-making more than statistics or information without patient narratives. Exposure to entertainment narratives was effective in promoting health behavior change. Third, several potentially important moderators, such as context, health topics, and research design, were identified. Fourth, while the quality of reviews varied, recent reviews exhibited higher quality. Directions for future research are discussed.