The processing of brand anthropomorphism using the elaboration likelihood model: Examining the roles of involvement, warmth, and competence

Brand anthropomorphism involves viewing inanimate/non-human products or brand through the lens of a human, giving it human characteristics or emotions that it would otherwise be unable to think/feel. It is a widely used advertising strategy that, despite its extensive use, has mixed results regarding its effectiveness in advertising, marketing, and communications research. Presently however, effectiveness is where much of the literature stops; brand anthropomorphism research has yet to fully explore the “how” and “why” of the complicated ways in which it affects consumers. This research aims to contribute to this less investigated area of brand anthropomorphism is by approaching it with a consumer-centric vantage point. The Elaboration Likelihood Model is introduced as a means to study how consumers process brand anthropomorphism, focusing on the “routes” (central or peripheral) in which consumers process it and giving special attention to the concepts of involvement (high or low) and brand anthropomorphism as a potential peripheral cue. The interaction of involvement and brand anthropomorphism on consumers’ attitude toward brand, ad, and purchase intention of a product after seeing an advertisement. Additionally, the concepts of warmth and competence are examined both as potential results of this interaction and as mediators between brand anthropomorphism and the aforementioned dependent variables. Results showed that while there was not a significant interaction of brand anthropomorphism and involvement, competence had a significant indirect effect on the relationship between brand anthropomorphism and attitude toward brand, attitude toward ad, and purchase intention. These findings aim to understand more about the “how” and “why” (involvement, warmth/competence) of brand anthropomorphism as a phenomenon by exploring new interactions and effects, adding to an otherwise relatively sparse collection of literature.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Advertising

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Fukada, Masashi

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ham, Chang-Dae
• Oh, Sang-Hwa
• Sar, Sela

• Brand Anthropomorphism
• Involvement
• Warmth
• Competence

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Masashi Fukada

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124603

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124603