Why Storytelling Sticks: The Power of Stories Over Stats in Healthcare Marketing
Storytelling is vital to the human experience and to the way we process information. This means storytelling marketing is not a modern novelty but rather an age-old necessity. Storytelling in healthcare marketing is no different. Every healthcare brand has a story. Every patient has a story. Those stories are hooks.
What makes storytelling so effective? It's impact on memory.
We are more likely to remember a story than a stat. Think about it. When you look back on your childhood, the past year, even last week, that time is stitched together with stories.
When someone asks about your high school experience, you don’t dive into a statistical ramble, you tell the story of that one crazy senior prank involving rubber ducks or the teacher that said, “May the force be with you,” before handing out exams.
Stories > Statistics
In a recent study conducted by Thomas Graeber, Christopher Roth, and Florian Zimmermann for The Quarterly Journal of Economics, “Stories, Statistics, and Memory,” the power of storytelling in relation to memory was put to the test.
“This article proposes that information type—story versus statistic—shapes selective memory. In controlled experiments, we document a pronounced story-statistic gap in memory: the average impact of statistics on beliefs fades by 73% over the course of a day, but the impact of a story fades by only 32%.”
73% versus 32% is a substantial disparity, supporting the hypothesis that people are more likely to remember stories than stats.
So how did they reach this conclusion? The study divided participants into three groups: statistic, story, and control. Each was given information about a hypothetical product or venue’s positive or negative reviews. Participants in the statistic condition received additional quantitative information, while participants in the story condition received additional qualitative (anecdotal) information. The control group received no additional information about the reviews.
Later on, participants were asked to relay any information they recalled about the product/venue scenario with which they were presented. The average correct recall was 61.61% for stories and 28.70% for stats, indicating that information delivered in a story format is more easily retrieved than statistical information.
“Our findings suggest that to persistently shape beliefs, effective communication should focus on qualitative features that are strongly semantically associated with the prompt the audience will likely encounter in the future.”
Beyond this study, research has shown that storytelling activates our brains, causing the release of hormones such as oxytocin and cortisol, lending to the sticky quality of stories. We have a whole blog on the science behind storytelling, which you can find below.
Employing storytelling in healthcare marketing to make an impact
You may think of storytelling marketing as separate from the healthcare industry, but the two make a powerful pair.
Storytelling in healthcare marketing will help physicians and patients remember your brand. If your brand remains top of mind for them, they’ll be more likely to head to your website for additional information, potentially prompting them to either prescribe your brand or consult their doctor to see if it would be a good fit.
With STORYSOFT, you can build interactive, story-based experiences to engage physicians and patients, driving home key brand messages. From new indication Stories to patient cases, the possibilities are endless.
Tell a healthcare brand story worth remembering, stats and compelling audiovisual elements woven in for emphasis.
Harness the power of storytelling in healthcare marketing with STORYSOFT. Learn more.
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