Park rangers, guides and nature center staff use stories all the time to help visitors understand and care about a place. Many visitors arrive knowing little about the landscape in front of them, and not every landscape is an instant crowd-pleaser. So which stories actually help people connect with a place?
The researchers ran an online survey. A total of 667 people saw a photo of one of four Australian landscapes, none of which they had visited:
- K'Gari (Fraser Island): a coastal island
- The Blue Mountains: a mountain valley
- Barron Gorge: a river gorge
- Lake Alexandrina: a wetland lake
Each person saw the photo either on its own or with one of three short stories of about 240 words. One was a science story about how the place formed, one was a story about a European historical figure, and one was an Indigenous creation story. All the stories had a similar structure, a similar length and simple language. Most respondents were university students, many of them international students from China. The surveys asked whether people felt they would enjoy and belong in the place, whether they found it beautiful and important, and whether they wanted to visit.
What they found
- The landscape itself mattered most. The coastal island scene was the most appealing, and the flat wetland the least. Stories nudged views of the wetland up slightly, but they didn't change which landscapes people preferred.
- Any story beat no story. People who read a story saw the landscapes more positively and valued them more than people who only saw the photo. Stories didn't change how much people wanted to visit. The researchers point out that many respondents lived overseas, so visiting was unlikely anyway.
- Science and Indigenous creation stories worked best. The European history stories did least for how people saw the landscapes.
- How the story landed mattered more than its type. The biggest influence was whether readers found a story informative and easy to follow, and felt it changed how they saw the place.
- The strongest stories shared some features. Both of the top-rated stories were about K'Gari. In the science story, sand slowly piled up into an island, and tough seeds eventually took root. In the creation story, from the Butchulla people, a spirit princess asked to stay forever and was turned into the island. Both had a character that readers could root for, who overcame a challenge. In both, the story's events explained why the landscape looks as it does.
- A fun story isn't enough. The weakest story followed a criminal who rode an ostrich around Lake Alexandrina. People liked it, but it didn't help them connect with the lake. The researchers suggest two reasons: the landscape was just a backdrop to the story, and the humor may not have worked for people from different cultural backgrounds.
What this means for your practice
- Pair images of places with short stories. Any story improved how people saw the landscapes. The researchers suggest adding stories to the landscape photos on websites and brochures, where many visitors first meet a place.
- Tell stories that explain why the place looks as it does. The best stories linked events to features people could see, such as sand building an island or a princess becoming its beaches and lakes. Before using a story, ask yourself whether it would make sense in any other place. If it would, it may not help visitors connect with this one.
- Let the land itself be a character. Science stories with sand, seeds or rivers as the main characters did as well as or better than stories about people. You can present geology and ecology as a story with a challenge and a satisfying ending.
- Give your audience someone to root for. The top stories featured a character who overcame a challenge. The weakest story's main character was a criminal who died, which readers found harder to connect with.
- Check that your story is clear and informative, not just entertaining. Whether readers found a story informative and easy to follow mattered more than the type of story. Short, plainly written stories worked well. Take extra care with humor when your visitors come from many different backgrounds.
- Expect less from stories alone with less dramatic landscapes. Stories helped the wetland only slightly. The researchers note that it is hard to make a landscape appealing to people who don't find it appealing at first sight.
The Bottom Line
The researchers showed 667 people, mostly university students, photos of unfamiliar Australian landscapes, either with or without a short story. Adding a story made people view the landscapes more positively than a photo alone. Stories about the science of how a place formed, and Indigenous creation stories, worked best. The type of story mattered less than whether readers found it informative, easy to follow and eye-opening about the place. The strongest stories had a character who overcame a challenge and events that explained why the landscape looks the way it does. For educators and interpreters, the study suggests that a short, well-built story can help visitors feel connected to a place. The key is that the story is clearly tied to what visitors are looking at.