Narrative-Centric Finance: Cross-Industry Lessons from Tech and Media Storytelling
Sriranjan Chenoori
ABSTRACT
Financial institutions have long struggled with a communication gap: while they generate vast amounts of data and disclosures, customers and regulators often perceive opacity and distrust. In contrast, technology and media companies excel at framing complex systems through accessible narratives and personalized storytelling. This paper argues that finance must become a storytelling industry, drawing lessons from Apple’s simplicity, Tesla’s analogies, Google’s transparency tools, Netflix’s personalization, and Spotify’s ritualized storytelling. We propose a Narrative-Centric Communication Framework, built on four pillars-Clarity, Emotion, Transparency, and Personalization and apply it to financial services. Case studies from fintech challengers and traditional banks highlight applications and challenges. The contribution is twofold: first, it shows how cross-industry communication strategies can rebuild trust in financial services; second, it provides media and management scholars with an applied framework for analyzing how industries converge around narrative as a source of legitimacy and competitive advantage.
