Fear …

Narrative Control is an attempt to make something positive that is or will be perceived as negative.

Fear is something often considered as negative, and since everyone is affected by fear, this poses a great opportunity for Narrative Control.

Take for example this ad from ProShares:

It’s no doubt that brick-and-mortar stores are being affected from online retailers such as Amazon. The future is becoming uncertain, and ProShares knows this. They take the user’s fears and instead turn it into a positive by talking about “EMTY, the first ETF designed to turn the decline of bricks-and-mortar retailers into an investment opportunity for you.”

This can be used for a variety of things: Don’t offer free shipping? Use Narrative Control to inform that you have to charge for shipping in order to meet bottom lines. Shipping times longer than expected? Use Narrative Control to let the users know that every product is delivered from your warehouse and no third-parties are involved.