Mr. Oven or Mr. Pizza? How Cause‐Effect Anthropomorphism Influences Consumer Response

ABSTRACT This study investigates how advertisements utilizing cause or effect anthropomorphism (e.g., a humanized oven vs. a humanized pizza) influence consumer persuasion. Three studies were conducted using field and experimental data. The findings show that anthropomorphizing the cause (i.e., the product or ingredient) increases perceptions of agency, while anthropomorphizing the effect (i.e., the desired outcome) enhances perceptions of experience. Moreover, consumer responses are more favorable when the message appeals are congruent with the anthropomorphized entities. Specifically, participants exposed to a humanized cause (or effect) reported more positive attitudes toward the advertised product, stronger purchase intentions, and greater leaflet‐taking behavior when the message emphasized feasibility (or desirability). These effects were driven by perceived agency (or perceived experience). Overall, the findings contribute to anthropomorphism research by moving beyond the traditional binary approach to investigate its multidimensional nature, particularly by examining causally related humanized objects.