Healing or hesitation? The impact of anthropomorphism on consumers' repair intentions for products

Anthropomorphism has been recognized as a powerful marketing tool that imbues products with life, enhancing the feeling of aliveness for consumers. Despite the popularity of research on this topic, little attention has been given to its impact on consumers' repair behaviors after purchase. Based on cognitive metaphor theory, this study seeks to understand the influence, mechanism, and boundary of anthropomorphism on consumers' intentions to repair products. Results show that anthropomorphism leads consumers to overestimate a product's self-healing capability, consequently affecting their repair intentions. Specifically, (a) anthropomorphism reduces consumers' repair intentions; (b) the perception of self-healing ability mediates this effect; and (c) the gender features of products moderate the relationship. Consumers exhibit lower repair intentions towards products with more masculine characteristics compared to those with more feminine attributes. This research offers an insightful look into how consumers interact with anthropomorphic products and provides businesses with valuable guidelines on how to develop product renewal strategies.