Storytelling and hard-selling content both have a positive influence on Generation Z purchase decisions in Banjarmasin. The finding comes from a study by Muhammad Wahyu Wardhana, Hairul Anwar, and Novi Shintia of Politeknik Negeri Banjarmasin, involving 120 Generation Z social media users. The article was published in the International Journal of Integrated Science and Technology (IJIST), Volume 4, Issue 8, in August 2026. The findings are relevant to businesses because they show that digital marketing does not necessarily require choosing between emotional storytelling and direct promotional communication.
Social media has become an important space for consumers to discover products, evaluate brands, and make purchasing decisions. This development is particularly relevant to Generation Z, a group that has grown up with mobile technology, social networking platforms, visual communication, and immediate access to information.
In social media marketing, storytelling and hard-selling represent two different communication approaches. Storytelling delivers brand messages through narratives, experiences, values, and emotional elements. Hard-selling, on the other hand, emphasizes direct product information, benefits, prices, promotions, and calls to action.
The study by Wardhana, Anwar, and Shintia found that both approaches can contribute positively to Generation Z purchase decisions.
Study Involved 120 Generation Z Consumers
The researchers used a quantitative survey with a comparative approach. Data were collected through questionnaires involving 120 Generation Z respondents living in Banjarmasin. The participants actively used social media platforms such as TikTok or Instagram and had previously encountered both storytelling and hard-selling marketing content.
Respondents evaluated the content using a five-point scale. Storytelling was assessed through story flow, message clarity, relevance, emotional involvement, authenticity, and product recall. Hard-selling was evaluated through direct product information, product benefits, price or promotion, calls to action, product advantages, and promotional intensity.
The researchers analyzed the data using IBM SPSS Statistics. The analysis included validity and reliability testing, regression analysis, and comparative testing. The overall research instrument demonstrated high reliability, with a Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.927.
Storytelling Positively Influences Purchase Decisions
The analysis showed that storytelling content had a positive and significant relationship with purchase decisions. The regression coefficient was 0.695, with a β value of 0.599 and a significance level below 0.001. The storytelling model produced an R² value of 0.358.
This means that, within the study data, storytelling was positively associated with purchase decisions and accounted for approximately 35.8 percent of the variation in purchase decisions within the model.
Respondents gave storytelling content an average score of 3.95. Message clarity received the highest rating, with a mean score of 4.23, followed by attractive story flow at 4.19.
The findings suggest that effective storytelling in marketing is not simply about creating emotional appeal. For the respondents, clear messages and easy-to-follow narratives were also important elements in evaluating marketing content.
Hard-Selling Content Also Receives Positive Responses
Hard-selling content produced a similar result. The regression analysis generated a coefficient of 0.625, a β value of 0.611, and a significance level below 0.001. The model produced an R² value of 0.373.
Therefore, hard-selling content also showed a positive and significant relationship with purchase decisions among the sampled respondents.
The average score for hard-selling content was 3.97, slightly higher than the 3.95 average for storytelling. Direct product information received the highest rating among the hard-selling indicators, with a mean score of 4.21, followed by direct explanations of product benefits at 4.19.
However, the direct call-to-action element received the lowest score among the hard-selling indicators, at 3.55. This result suggests that consumers continue to need concrete product information while potentially responding differently to promotional messages that feel overly forceful.
No Significant Difference Between the Two Content Formats
Although both content formats showed positive relationships with purchase decisions, the study found no statistically significant difference between storytelling and hard-selling.
The paired-sample comparison produced a p-value of 0.804. The average storytelling score was 23.71, while hard-selling recorded an average of 23.80. The difference was not statistically significant.
This finding indicates that Generation Z purchase decisions in the context of this study cannot be explained simply by a preference for emotional content or direct promotional content.
Storytelling may provide experience, relevance, engagement, and a sense of authenticity. Hard-selling, meanwhile, can provide information about product benefits, prices, promotions, and purchasing procedures that consumers may need when evaluating a product.
Marketing Strategies Can Combine Both Approaches
Wardhana, Anwar, and Shintia position the two content formats as approaches that can complement each other. One possible application is a social media video that begins with a consumer problem or relatable experience, presents an authentic experience, and then provides concise information about product benefits, price, promotions, and purchasing procedures.
Such an approach can allow storytelling to attract attention and establish a connection with audiences while using direct product information to help consumers evaluate their purchasing options.
For small and medium-sized businesses, this integrated strategy can be applied through TikTok, Instagram, and similar social media platforms. Product information can remain clear and useful without relying on overly aggressive calls to purchase.
Implications for Businesses and Digital Marketing
The findings offer several practical implications for businesses:
- Storytelling can help build connections with audiences, particularly when the stories are relevant, clear, and authentic.
- Product information remains important, including benefits, prices, promotions, and purchasing procedures.
- Hard-selling does not necessarily have to be aggressive. Clear and useful information can become an important part of marketing communication.
- Storytelling and hard-selling can be combined within the same content to bring together narrative appeal and concrete product information.
- Small and medium-sized enterprises can apply this approach on social media to reach Generation Z consumers.
The authors also emphasize that concepts such as emotional engagement, authenticity, trust, and purchase intention require further empirical testing. These variables were not measured as independent constructs in the current dataset, meaning that the study cannot statistically establish them as mechanisms explaining the relationship between content formats and purchase decisions.
Limitations and Future Research
The study used a cross-sectional design and purposive sampling involving 120 respondents. As a result, the findings have limitations in establishing definitive causal relationships and in generalizing the results to the broader Generation Z population.
Future research is recommended to use larger samples and separately measure emotional engagement, authenticity, trust, perceived informativeness, purchase intention, and purchase decision. The authors also propose online experiments in which participants are randomly assigned to storytelling or hard-selling content for the same product.
Such research could provide stronger evidence regarding how different marketing formats influence consumer behavior.
Author Profiles
- Muhammad Wahyu Wardhana — Politeknik Negeri Banjarmasin.
- Hairul Anwar — Politeknik Negeri Banjarmasin.
- Novi Shintia — Politeknik Negeri Banjarmasin.
Research Source
Article Title: Beyond Content Format: Explaining Generation Z Purchase Decisions through Emotional Engagement, Authenticity, Trust, and Purchase Intention
Authors: Muhammad Wahyu Wardhana, Hairul Anwar, Novi Shintia
Affiliation: Politeknik Negeri Banjarmasin
Journal: International Journal of Integrated Science and Technology (IJIST)
Volume: 4, Issue 8
Publication Year: 2026
Pages: 707–714
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59890/ijist.v4i8.52
Journal URL: https://journalijist.my.id/index.php/ijist
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