McGill Institute of Marketing (MIM) Seminar: Dr. Brent McFerran
Dr. Brent McFerran
Simon Fraser University
Limiting Accessibility: How Targeting Consumers with Disabilities Constrains Acceptable Prices for Innovations
Date: Friday, September 26, 2025
Time: 10:30 am-12:00 pm EST
Location: Bronfman building, room 245
All are cordially invited to attend.
Abstract:
Business professionals often promote themselves through stories of success, yet in contrast to prevailing intuition, our research demonstrates that stories of failure can be more persuasive. Across nine studies in laboratory, field, and online settings, we show that failure stories can outperform success stories in driving consumer support—measured via clicks, votes, and behavioral intentions. We adopt a protagonist-centered approach to narrative persuasion, theorizing that stories influence persuasion via social judgments of the storyteller. Out findings show that failure stories enhance persuasion when the failure is not caused by a moral violation, is outside the speaker’s control, leads to eventual success, and results in a relationally-oriented lesson. These stories work by increasing audience perceptions of the speaker’s likeability. Our findings extend narrative persuasion theory by shifting focus from plot-based mechanisms to character-based evaluations, and provide practical guidance for individuals seeking to persuade through storytelling in business contexts.
