Betrayed by the Geico Gecko

For someone who studies what happens when humanized brands go wrong, Marina Puzakova is upbeat about the marketing value of brand anthropomorphization (imbuing a brand with “human-like” qualities.)

“Brand humanization could have positive consequences,” says Puzakova, assistant professor of marketing in Lehigh’s College of Business and Economics. “The research shows that consumers feel a greater connection to brands that have human characteristics –like a coffee maker constructed to mimic a face or a product represented by a ‘human-like’ character like Geico’s green gecko.”

“But,” she adds, “there are also potential risks.”

According to Puzakova’s latest study, Better Not Smile at the Price: The Differential Role of Brand Anthropomorphization on Perceived Price Fairness, one risk is an increase in customers’ sensitivity to the product’s price change. Customers are more sensitive to what humanized brands do because customers tend to evaluate “human-like” brands the same way they do the actions of fellow humans.

But customers are not all alike and neither are their reactions.  How customers respond to price changes for humanized brands depends on the type of customer they are — and gender plays a role.

Puzakova and her colleagues analyzed responses to price changes for a set of common household products including frozen pizza, margarine/spreads/butter, paper towels, potato chips, toilet tissue and yogurt.  Examples of the humanized vs. non-humanized brands studied include Celeste vs. Tombstone pizza, Red Baron vs. Roma pizza and Brawny paper towels with the Brawny character vs. without the character.

The core finding: consumers are more sensitive to price changes for humanized brands than they are for non-humanized ones.

The researchers also looked at the effects of brand humanization on two different types of consumers: those who are more self-focused and define themselves according to their individual traits and as separate from others; and those who are other-focused and see themselves as connected to others and part of a web of social relationships.

The authors cite prior research demonstrating that a focus on the self is more characteristic of men, whereas a focus on connectedness to others tends to be descriptive of women.

They found that when a brand is humanized, self-focused consumers are more likely to view a price increase as unfair.  However, customers who are other-focused are more likely to give a humanized brand the benefit of the doubt and see both a price decrease and increase as fair.

The types of interpersonal relationships that consumers value is another factor influencing their perceptions of pricing fairness. Self-focused consumers value exchange relationships, in which what is given is equal to what is received. Other-focused consumers prioritize communal relationships in which the needs and welfare of others are considered as part of the transaction.

Self-focused consumers who value exchange relationships are more likely to view an action such as a price increase as a violation of an agreement made by the brand to provide a certain amount of value in exchange for a certain amount of money, while other-focused consumers are more likely to consider the brand’s perspective.

Consumer-brand communications often mirror the interpersonal relationship preferences of the consumers being targeted.  A marketing message aimed at self-focused consumers who prioritize exchange relationships might be: “Value for your money!” An example of a message targeted to other-focused consumers who value communal relations is: “Let Whole Foods Market help you enjoy more times with loved ones.”

"These findings make it particularly important to understand the target audience of humanized brands,” said Puzakova. “If the majority of your customers are male consumers or tend to be self-focused, communicating the reasons for a price increase should be a top priority.  For example, brand managers might need to explain that the higher price is a result of increased costs or inflation. Otherwise, the reactions from your customers will be negative,” says Puzakova.

“On the other hand, if your target audience is made up mostly of women—or consumers who tend to be other-focused— there’s more leeway. For this audience, humanized brands actually have a bit of increased protection against negative reactions to price increases.” 

The paper, authored by Marina Puzakova (Lehigh University), Hyokjin Kwak (Drexel University) and Joseph F. Rocereto (Monmouth University), is scheduled to be published in the July 2015 issue of the Journal of Marketing.

Story by Lori Friedman