BRAND ANTHROPOMORPHISM STRENGTH: CONCEPTUALIZATION, CONSTRUCT DEVELOPMENT AND MEASUREMENT VALIDATION

Abstract

This thesis embarks on a comprehensive exploration of an intriguing phenomenon of anthropomorphism strength. In an era characterized by rapidly evolving consumer behaviors and technological advancements, consumers often perceive human qualities in brands and hold anthropomorphic beliefs regarding them with varying degrees of strength. Therefore, understanding the complex interplay between consumers and brands is of paramount importance for businesses and scholars alike. This thesis aims to understand this phenomenon of variations in strength of consumer’s anthropomorphic beliefs. The first research objective of this thesis is to explore the existence of strong anthropomorphic beliefs. For this an exploratory study is conducted using 29 semi-structured interviews. This study explores the recent trend of consumers holding strong anthropomorphic beliefs about brands even when they are aware of the non-human nature of brands and identifies the antecedents and consequences of this trend. The result of this study corroborates the presence of strong anthropomorphic beliefs about brands. The second research objective of this thesis is to develop and validate a scale for measuring anthropomorphism strength. In order to develop a scale, the three-phase methodology of scale development is adopted. Six main studies are conducted for the fulfilment of this research objective. The first phase comprises of item development: it includes domain identification, item generation and content validity. The next phase comprises of scale construction. Two studies are conducted in this phase to assess the latent structure of the measurement model, and refine, purify and validate the scale respectively. This develops a final 11-item, three-dimension scale for measuring the strength of brand anthropomorphism. And the final phase of scale development is scale evaluation in which four studies are conducted to test the psychometric properties of the scale. The developed scale displays robust psychometric properties evaluated through the tests of dimensionality, reliability and validity. Finally, the third research objective investigates the temporal effects of brand anthropomorphism and the influence of brand anthropomorphism strength on these effects. For this objective, a longitudinal field experiment is conducted to investigate how brand anthropomorphism influences brand evaluations in pre-usage and post usage stages. It highlights that favorable effects of anthropomorphism are more consistent when consumers have strong anthropomorphic beliefs, underscoring the significance of anthropomorphism strength in maintaining the favorable effects even after product usage. This thesis significantly advances our understanding of brand anthropomorphism in significant ways. It validates the existence of strong anthropomorphic beliefs among consumers, provides a robust measurement scale to quantify anthropomorphism strength, and unravels the temporal effects of brand anthropomorphism. These insights carry profound implications for marketers aiming to forge authentic and enduring connections with consumers in a digitally driven world.