Tales or labels? The impact of storytelling and geographical indication label on consumers' attitudes towards brazilian canastra cheese

This study investigates which communication strategy – storytelling or geographical indication (GI) label - leads to a more positive consumer attitude towards Canastra cheese when promoted on Instagram. Using a between-subjects experimental design with 345 potential Brazilian consumers of Canastra cheese, the study tested four variations of Instagram posts, manipulating the presence or absence of storytelling and the GI label, while controlling for participants' prior knowledge of the product. Guided by the Tripartite Model of Attitude, the analysis assessed cognitive, affective, and conative responses to each post. The results demonstrate that storytelling is more effective than the GI label in generating favorable attitudes among consumers, highlighting the persuasive power of narratives in shaping attitude. In contrast, the GI label alone did not significantly impact attitudes, which may be due to the Brazilian population's limited knowledge about the meaning of a geographical indication and the lack of awareness that it signals product quality. Furthermore, prior knowledge of the product moderated the relationship between the communication strategy and consumer attitude, indicating that familiarity influences message reception. This study contributes uniquely to the literature by comparing two central GI-related communication strategies using all three components of the attitude model, offering an extensive perspective not yet explored in previous research. The findings also provide practical insights for marketers and regional producers, especially those aiming to promote certified products through more engaging and effective storytelling techniques on digital platforms.