In accordance with these features, Van Laer et al.[2]: 799 define narrative transportation as the extent to which which leads them to experience suspended reality during story reception.
More specifically, Van Laer et al.'s[2] literature review reveals that narrative transportation can cause affective and cognitive responses, beliefs, and attitude and intention changes.
However, the processing pattern of narrative transportation is markedly different from that in well-established models of persuasion.
A 2016 meta-analysis found significant, positive narrative persuasion (i.e., narrative-consistent) effects for attitudes, beliefs, intentions and behaviors.
According to these models, the determination of a claim's acceptability can result from careful evaluation of the arguments presented or from reliance on superficial cues, such as the presence of an expert.
As important variables, these models include empathy, familiarity, involvement, and the number and nature of thoughts the message evokes.
In analytical persuasion, involvement depends on the extent to which the message has personally relevant consequences for a receiver's money, time, or other resources.
Yet, as Slater[11]: 171 notes, even though severe consequences for stories are relatively rare, "viewers or readers of an entertainment narrative typically appear to be far more engrossed in the message."
ETIM contains three methodological factors that moderate the overall effect of narrative transportation, as van Laer, Feiereisen, and Visconti[13] detail.