The Influence of Social Exclusion and Anthropomorphized Brand Roles on Consumers’ Purchase Intention

Abstract

Anthropomorphism is a prevalent practice in Chinese marketing practices. For instance, companies may speak to customers in a sweet, human-like tone or utilize anthropomorphized imagery to grab their interest. However, additional theoretical studies are necessary. From the perspective of compensatory consumption, based on the temporal need-threat model and the three-factor theory of anthropomorphism, this paper explored the mechanism of social exclusion, anthropomorphized brand roles, and consumers’ purchase intention, as well as the moderating effect of self-construal through two experiments. The results of study 1 showed that social exclusion and anthropomorphized brand roles jointly influenced consumers’ purchase intention. When rejected, consumers were more willing to purchase anthropomorphized partner (vs. servant) brands. When ignored, consumers preferred to purchase anthropomorphized servant (vs. partner) brands. The results of study 2 showed that self-construal played a moderating effect in this mechanism. For interdependent self-construal consumers to be rejected, the anthropomorphized partner (vs. servant) brands were more likely to promote positive purchase intention. For independent self-construal consumers to be ignored, anthropomorphized servant (vs. partner) brands were more likely to promote positive purchase intention. The conclusions encourage enterprises to take into account both situational factors and consumers’ traits when creating anthropomorphized marketing strategies.