Consumer Trust in User-Generated Brand Recommendations on Facebook

Simos Chari, George Christodoulides, Caterina Presi, Jil Wenhold, John P. Casaletto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

While humans have a long history of anthropomorphizing animals and the use of animal imagery in themarketplace and popular culture is commonplace, the phenomenon has received little attention. This research investigates the role of how consumers respond to anthropomorphic portrayals of animal mascots that differ on their baseline physical resemblance to humans. In order to test this assertion, an experimental study was conducted with 62 undergraduate participants from a large state university in the Northeastern United States. Results from the study indicate that evaluations of anthropomorphic portrayals of animals with a lower baseline physical similarity to humans are less favorable than nonanthropomorphic portrayals. In contrast, evaluations of anthropomorphic portrayals of animals with a higher baseline physical similarity are more favorable than nonanthropomorphic portrayals.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1071-1081
Number of pages11
JournalPsychology and Marketing
Early online date11 Nov 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2016

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