Humanizing a Brand: Consumer Relationships Through an Anthropomorphic Lens

Conclusion

Though they may not be right for every brand, this study shows that spokescharacters have an undeniably positive effect on brand personalities. The results indicated that having personality traits that the target demographic associates with an ideal self-concept or social identity is not always enough to guarantee the brand’s success. Intelligent and clever use of spokescharacters can personify a brand so effectively that consumers will develop a real relationship with the brand, perhaps one that results in brand love. Spokescharacters support the abilities of consumers to interact with, identify to, and aspire to be what the brand chooses to represent. Marketing professionals should not underestimate the power of spokescharacters and the integration of ideal traits in their own communication strategies or in the strategies of their competitors. Future research will permit the advertising industry to better understand how this personification technique can help elevate brands’ success.

Suggestions for Future Research

While current research proves that the anthropomorphism of brands through spokescharacters strengthens the consumers’ resistance to negative information about brands, little research exists that directly supports the enhancing effect of spokescharacters on brand identification this study examined. Possible follow-up studies could include research that quantifies this effect spokescharacters seem to have on brand identification, as well as further examine the role that specific personality traits play in the brand experience.

Limitations

Due to the limited scope of this study, its results are subject to dispute. The process of selecting the brands and their traits was subjective. Gender may have played a role in respondents’ brand preference due to the masculine associations of beer and the classification of the body washes as a men’s product. Subjectivity of the traits is also a culpable limitation. Synonyms of the words may have elicited a different response; for instance, being mysterious versus and enigmatic may have differing effects, even though in essence both words share the same definition.

The traits chosen for each brand do not have the support of quantitative data; other traits may have been a stronger representation of the brand’s personality depending on constituent’s perceptions. Lack of demographic information was also a limitation, which did not allow me to account for gender bias, among other demographic related factors. Since women are already making more than half of all body wash purchases, gender may not have been a factor in the Old Spice and Dove Men+Care comparison, but it may have played a larger role in beer brand appeal (“Old Spice,” n.d.).

Watching the commercials embedded in the survey was also not mandatory and it was impossible to determine how many respondents viewed them. If not all of the respondents viewed the same commercials, their brand experience will vary, along with their relationship with the brand and their perception of the brand.

---

Acknowledgements

This author is thankful to Dr. David Copeland at Elon University for his supervision and advice, without which the article could not be published. The author also appreciates numerous reviewers who have helped revise this article.

---

References

Batra, R., Ahuvia, A., & Bagozzi, R.P. (2012). “Brand Love.” Journal Of Marketing, (76)2. 1-16. Communication & Mass Media Complete.

Benim, K. (2013, November 9). Dove men care clean comfort TV commercial, ‘protecting exterior casing’ [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbQ5aXlGny8

Bercovici, J. (2011, March 14). In Pictures: America’s 12 Most Loved Spokescharacters. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from Forbes website: http://www.forbes.com/2011/03/11/old-spice-snoopy-m-and-m-mostloved-spokescharacters_slide.html

Brakus, J. J., Schmitt, B. H., & Zarantonello, L. (2009). “Brand Experience: What Is It? How Is It Measured? Does It Affect Loyalty?” Journal of Marketing 73 (3): 52-68.

Carr, A. (2010, July 27). Why the world’s most interesting moves more unit than old spice guy [Editorial]. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from Fast Company website: http://www.fastcompany.com/1674547/why-mostinteresting-man-world-moves-more-units-old-spice-guy

Corona extra offers most unexpected call to “find your beach” yet. (2013, March 4). Retrieved April 20, 2014, from Cramer-krasselt website: http://c-k.com/news/corona-extra-offers-most-unexpected-call-to-findyour-beach-yet/

Cramer Krasselt. (2012, February 29). Corona find your beach campaign case study [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z23TBvBJsCg

Dove men+care. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2014, from Memac Ogilvy website: http://www.memacogilvy.com/casestudy/dove-mencare/

Ferraro, R., Kirmani, A., & Matherly, T. (2013). “Look at me! Look at me! Conspicuous brand usage, self-brand connection, and dilution.” Journal of Marketing Research, (50)4, 477-488.

Folse, J. A. G., Burton, S., & Netemeyer, R. G. (2013). Defending brands: Effects of alignment of spokescharacter personality traits and corporate transgressions on brand trust and attitudes. Journal of Advertising, 42(4), 331-342. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.elon.edu/docview/1467989159?accountid=10730

Fournier, S. (1998). Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research. Journal Of Consumer Research, 24(4), 343-373.

Grant, R. (2010, August 10). W+K Old Spice case study [Video file]. Retrieved from http://wearesocial.net/blog/2010/08/wieden-kennedys-spice-case-study/

Jaffe, E. (2014). “How Apple’s Famous “I’m A Mac” Ads Branded Fanboys For Life.” Co.Design. Fast Company.

Jensen, J. (1997). “MGM to Push ‘Roaring Lion’ Image.” Advertising Age, (68)20, 82. Retreived from Pro-Quest database.

Jones, R. P., & Runyan, R. C. (2013). “Brand experience and brand implications in a multi-channel setting.” The International Review Of Retail, Distribution And Consumer Research, (23)3, 265-290. Retrieved from PsycINFO database.

Jooyoung, K., Morris, J. D., & Swait, J. (2008). Antecedents of True Brand Loyalty. Journal of Advertising, 37(2), 99-117. Retrieved from Communication & Mass Media Complete database. (Accession No. 32579438)

Kaufman, J. 2012. The personal MBA: Master the art of business. New York, NY: Portfolio/Penguin. Lin, J.-S., & Sung, Y. (2014). Nothing can tear us apart: The effect of brand identity fusion in consumer-brand relationships. Psychology & Marketing, 31(1), 54-69. Retrieved from PsycINFO database. (Accession No. 2013-44919-005)

LovePinkCouture. (2010, April 2). Dos equis: The most interesting man in the world (spring 2010) [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-4zfsy6rsM

McLeod, S. (2008). Social identity theory. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from Simply Psychology website: http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html

Navarro-Bailón, M. A. (2012). “Strategic consistent messages in cross-tool campaigns: Effects on brand image and brand attitude.” Journal Of Marketing Communications, (18)3, 189-202. Retrieved from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.

O’Brien, G. 2013. “A Century Of Getting The Bugs Out.” BusinessWest, (30)4. 6-8, 58. Retrieved from Pro-Quest database. (Accession No. 1431386012)

Old Spice. (2010, February 4). Old spice | the man your man could smell like [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

Ozersky, J. (2011, March 28). Send out the clowns. Retrieved March 21, 2014, from Time website: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2059599,00.html

Schutte, T. F. (1969). The semantics of branding. Journal of Marketing, 33(2). Retrieved from ProQuest database. (Accession No. 209286720)

Sigelman, C.K., & Rider, E. A. (2009). Life-span Human Development. Australia: Thomson/Wadsworth.

SpotTV. (2014, March 13). Corona extra TV commercial, ‘shoes’ [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TEFYtostK8

Sung, Y., Choi, S. M., & Tinkham, S. F. (2012). “Brand-situation congruity: The roles of self-construal and brand commitment.” Psychology & Marketing, (29)12, 941-955.

Sutikno, B. (2011). “Does consumers’ brand identification matter: The mediating roles of brand loyalty.” International Journal Of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, (6)3, 319-331. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Tamir, D. I., & Mitchell, J.P. (2012). “Disclosing information about the self is intrinsically rewarding.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, (109)21, 8038-8043.

Vanderbilt, T. (2000). The 15 Most Influential, IMPORTANT, Innocuous, INANE, and Interesting Ad Icons of the Last 500 Years (In No Particular Order). Print, 54(6), 116.

---

Appendix A: Survey

Title: Capstone Survey

Description: The purpose of this survey is to identify which traits should be incorporated into brand identity to build brand loyalty.

I. Select three characteristics that you believe are apart of an ideal personality.

a. Laid back
b. Protective
c. Confident
d. Mysterious
e. Fun
f. Interesting
g. Caring
h. Sexy

II. Section Header: Please watch the 30-second commercial spots before selecting your brand preference.

III. Embedded Video: “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” Old Spice Commercial (Old Spice, 2010).

IV. Embedded Video: “Outer Layer Care” Dove Men+Care Commercial (Benim, 2013).

a. Select your preferred body wash brand.
b. Help Text: Ladies – select which brand you would prefer men to use.

1. Dove Men
2. Old Spice

V. Embedded Video: “Shoes” Corona TV Commercial (SpotTV, 2014).

VI. Embedded Video: “The World’s Most Interesting Man” Dos Equis TV Commercial (LovePinkCouture, 2010).

a. Select your preferred imported beer.

1. Dos Equis
2. Corona

---

Appendix B: Survey Results

Select three characteristics that you believe are apart of an ideal personality.	Select your preferred body wash brand.	Select your preferred imported beer.
Laid back, Confident, Fun	Old Spice	Corona
Confident, Interesting, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Fun, Interesting, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Laid back, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Laid back, Protective, Confident, Fun, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Corona
Laid back, Confident, Fun	Dove Men	Corona
Confident, Fun, Sexy	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Laid back, Confident, Fun	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Interesting	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Laid back, Protective, Caring	Dove Men	Corona
Confident, Interesting, Sexy	Old Spice	Corona
Confident, Fun, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Fun, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Corona
Protective, Confident, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Laid back, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Laid back, Protective, Confident, Mysterious, Fun, Interesting, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Confident, Interesting, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Laid back, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Fun, Interesting, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Laid back, Confident, Fun	Old Spice	Corona
Confident, Interesting, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Fun, Interesting, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Laid back, Fun, Interesting	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Corona
Laid back, Interesting, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Confident, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Corona
Confident, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Caring	Dove Men	Corona
Fun, Interesting, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Confident, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Corona
Confident, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Laid back, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Confident, Fun, Interesting	Old Spice	Corona
Confident, Fun, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Confident, Interesting, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Confident, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Confident, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Laid back, Confident, Fun	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Laid back, Confident, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Laid back, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Confident, Interesting, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Confident	Dove Men	Corona
Fun, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Protective, Confident, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Protective, Fun, Caring	Dove Men	Corona
Protective, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Sexy	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Interesting	Dove Men	Corona
Fun, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Mysterious, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Corona
Confident, Fun, Interesting	Old Spice	Corona
Fun, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Corona
Laid back, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Laid back, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Confident, Fun, Interesting	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Laid back, Confident, Interesting	Old Spice	Corona
Confident, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Fun, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Laid back, Fun, Interesting	Old Spice	Dos Equis
Laid back, Interesting, Caring	Dove Men	Dos Equis
Confident, Fun, Caring	Old Spice	Corona
Laid back	Old Spice	Dos Equis