Three studies investigate the influence of empathy and the level of fictionality of short stories on consumers’ evaluations of emotional melodramatic entertainment. We find that high empathizers’ evaluations are more favorable when the story is low in fictionality (i.e., real) versus high....

Consumers desire products that provide meaningful experiences. Therefore, a marketer's success often depends on familiarizing consumers with the unique experience a product offers. Marketers recognize the value in communicating about a product experience through analogy, but little research has...