Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effects of brand anthropomorphism on consumer-brand relationships in a social media marketing context. We hypothesized that anthropomorphism on a brand's Facebook fan page can strengthen the relationships between brands and consumers by yielding both social presence and a positive inference regarding the brand's quality as a relationship partner. Our longitudinal experiment confirmed the effects of brand anthropomorphism on consumer-brand relationships on social media and the mediating role of social presence. The results suggest that when the anthropomorphized brand had relationships with consumers, a favorable attitude was shown toward the brand. Further, the participants perceived the anthropomorphized brand as a trustworthy relationship partner, giving more “Likes” for the posts from the anthropomorphized brand than those from the non-anthropomorphized brand. Further, the results confirmed that these favorable relationships were maintained even after the participants became aware of a brand transgression.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 101406 |
Journal | Telematics and Informatics |
Volume | 51 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 Aug |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea ( NRF-2019S1A3A2099973 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
- Brand anthropomorphism
- Consumer-brand relationships
- Fan page
- Social networking sites
- Social presence
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Computer Networks and Communications
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering