Warmth or competence: Brand anthropomorphism, social exclusion, and advertisement effectiveness

This paper examines how social exclusion moderates the role of brand anthropomorphism in advertisement effectiveness, its underlying mechanism, and its boundary conditions. Specifically, we propose that rejected (vs. ignored) consumers are more likely to purchase brands advertised as warm (vs. competent) through decreased (vs. increased) need for uniqueness. Additionally, product type moderates the effect of brand anthropomorphism, such that rejected (vs. ignored) consumers prefer warm (vs. competent) brands only for products with high safety levels; for less safe products, consumers tend to purchase competent brands, regardless of the state of their social exclusion. We empirically test this hypothesis across four studies that use different operationalizations of social exclusion. We conclude by discussing our contributions to the literature on brand anthropomorphism and social exclusion.