Anthropomorphism in building beverage brands: A moderated mediation study among the young generation

Abstract

Problem: In recent years, the concept of anthropomorphism—attributing human qualities to nonhuman agents — has attracted much attention from academicians and practitioners. Despite the growing number of studies, research on anthropomorphism in the branding context is relatively fragmented, with little effort to evaluate the real-world consequences of brand anthropomorphism. Research objectives: This thesis aims to examine the relationships between brand anthropomorphism and brand attachment, brand trust, consumer perceived values, perceived price fairness, and purchasing intentions, as well as explore the moderating role of brand stereotypes. Methods: Four experiment studies were carried out in the context of healthy and energy drink brands to test the hypotheses of the research model. The nonprobability design was adopted, and the sample size was determined in similar previous studies, showing reliable and valid findings. Data was collected from 531 young Vietnamese participants, and the Partial Least Squares technique was applied for statistical analysis. Results: The findings found that young consumers tend to show greater brand attachment and higher perceptions of price fairness (in the case of price increases) when they were exposed to an anthropomorphic juice/ energy brand (vs. non-anthropomorphic one). The exploratory results further highlighted the mediating role of perceived sentimental value, perceived social value, perceived instrumental value, competence trust, and benevolence trust. The research also verified the moderating effects of brand stereotypes (warmth vs. competence) regarding the anthropomorphic view. Conclusion: Drawing on the highly influential theories, the thesis examined the positive and negative sides of consumer-brand interactions related to anthropomorphic drink brands. The results from this research contributed to a deep understanding of brand anthropomorphism and provided valuable insights for marketing practices in the beverage industry.