Telling Tales: Storytelling as a Methodological Approach in Research
1 IntroductionUnderstanding the internalised process of consumers can be difficult and traditional research methods may not be effective in accessing consumer cognitions as they relate to complex behaviours. Story as a methodology is one approach well suited to explore consumer issues that reside beneath the surface. Stories are a universal language and allow researchers to investigate elements of the human psyche, discover the meaning of human existence and appraise our own individual purpose within it (Brooker 2004) Using storytelling also allows the researcher to investigate the constructed meanings of consumers in the present but as they relate to the past (Bennett and Detzner 1997 p 121) offering unique insights into the behaviours and perceptions of consumers over time. Consequentially, storytelling was applied as a methodology to investigate the following research question; why do consumers choose to remain in long term relationship with which they are dissatisfied or no longer committed to? Applying a storied approach allowed the research to explore the contemplative space within which attitudinal dissolution of a relationship may occur and probe the motivations and rationalisations leading to the decision not to exit.This paper is structured as follows: Section 2 details the literature on story as a narrative methodology. Section 3 explores an applied approach to analysing stories. Section 4 details an overview of the research case. Section 5 describes the methodological approach. Section 6 details the findings and analysis. Section 7 discusses our conclusions and finally, section 8 offers a commentary on the applicability of storytelling as a research method.2 Story as NarrativeThe phrase 'Once Upon a Time' opens the mind and the imagination to infinite possibilities. Stories have always permeated every fabric of human society (Moore 2012) Warner (2014) refers to this as the Ocean of Story which has encircled us since the beginning of time. They are a universal language loaded with symbolism and significance which allow us to unravel the mysteries of the world in which we live. At their most basic, they seek to discover the meaning of human existence and consider our own individual purpose within it (Brooker 2004 p 6 8) Practically, they provide a framework through which we can investigate experience (Webster and Mertova 2007) and gain access to the complexity of human affairs and human activity. As "people think narratively rather than argumentatively or paradigmaticaMy"(Weick 1995,p.127) stories are sense making devices told in the present with a view to the future (Bennett and Detzner 1997) At an elemental level we have a need for stories, to organise and transmit our experiences to others and to help form meaningful connections (Dyson and Genishi 1994) Woodside (2010, p 532 533) argues that as information is indexed, stored and retrieved through stories, the process of telling a story is episodic, cathartic and pleasurable for the both the teller and the listener. Stories, how we tell them and how we transmit them, are therefore pivotal to understanding behaviour (Escalas Stern 2003, Holt 2004).It is widely accepted that stories adhere to a number of universal plots, common across all genres and cultures (Tobais 1993) From a Jungian perspective the assumption is that we all share common deeper levels of unconsciousness into which archetypes are embedded and within which the meanings and blueprints of stories reside. From Aristotle's Poetics to Frye's Archetypes of Literature (1951) a number of master plots have been consistently identified enabling researchers to classify stories. These poetic modes are often derived from grand narrative typologies found in Fairy Tales, Greek or Celtic mythology (See Tatar 2004, Gabriel 2000, Kavanagh, O'Leary and Majella 2004) More recently, da Silva and Tehrani (2016) have revealed that many classical stories may be over 5,000 years old in origin.