The Influence of Anthropomorphism on Choosing Multiple Products from an Assortment

ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER RESEARCH

Labovitz School of Business & Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, 11 E. Superior Street, Suite 210, Duluth, MN 55802

The Influence of Anthropomorphism on Choosing Multiple Products From an Assortment Rocky Peng Chen, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Echo Wen Wan, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

This research finds that anthropomorphism (vs. non-anthropomorphism) leads consumers to choose a whole set of products from an assortment, even at the cost of at the cost of including less-preferred options. This effect occurs because anthropomorphism promotes a holistic thinking style, which is good at identifying relationships between objects.

[to cite]: Rocky Peng Chen and Echo Wen Wan (2017) ,"The Influence of Anthropomorphism on Choosing Multiple Products From an Assortment", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 45, eds. Ayelet Gneezy, Vladas Griskevicius, and Patti Williams, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 350-355.

[url]: http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/1023896/volumes/v45/NA-45

[copyright notice]: This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in part, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/. New Perspectives on Anthropomorphism: Examining the Role of Anthropomorphism in Financial Decision-Making and Consumer Welfare Chair: Eric Levy, University of Cambridge, UK

Paper #1: Is Money Worth Saving? Money Anthropomorphism purchase anthropomorphized brands. Drawing on two influential Increases Saving Behavior theories of morality- the expanding circle of moral regard (Singer Lili Wang, Zhejang University, China 1981; Reed and Aquino 2003), and morality as mind perception Sara Kim, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (Gray, Young, and Waytz 2012), this paper finds that higher moral Xinyue Zhou, Zhejiang University, China identifiers assign more humanness to anthropomorphized brands, leading them to be more willing to purchase these brands. Morality Paper #2: Beauty (Value) Is in the Eye of the Beholder: How has strong links to consumer welfare, yet its implications for anthro- Anthropomorphism Affects the Pricing of Used Products pomorphism have been previously unexplored. Junhee Kim, Drexel University, USA The fourth paper by Chen and Wan investigates the influence Marina Puzakova, Lehigh University, USA of anthropomorphism on choosing multiple products from an assort- Hyokjin Kwak, Drexel University, USA ment. Building on prior studies on anthropomorphism and person Haeyoung Jeong, Drexel University, USA perception (Nisbett, Peng, Choi, and Norenzayan 2001), this research Paper #3: Moral Identity and Brand Anthropomorphism demonstrates that consumers are more likely to think in a holistic Eric Levy, University of Cambridge, UK manner after thinking about products as anthropomorphized. In turn, Sara Kim, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong holistic thinking leads consumers to choose whole sets of products, Americus Reed II, University of Pennsylvania, USA even when the assortment includes a less-preferred option. This find- Paper #4: The Influence of Anthropomorphism on Choosing ing is relevant for consumer finances and welfare, since consumers Multiple Products from an Assortment may decide to spend more money on, though experience less enjoy- Rocky Peng Chen, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong ment from, the consumption of products that they prefer less. Echo Wen Wan, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong In conclusion, these four papers provide novel theoretical view- points and empirical contexts for examining the relationship between SESSION OVERVIEW anthropomorphism, financial decision-making, and consumer wel- The purpose of this special session is to present research offer- fare. ing fresh theoretical perspectives and novel empirical contexts examining anthropomorphism in consumer behavior. The four papers are Is Money Worth Saving? well-grounded in theory, and related in their focus on implications Money Anthropomorphism Increases Saving Behavior for consumer welfare and financial decision-making more specifically- areas that have been largely overlooked in empirical studies of EXTENDED ABSTRACT anthropomorphism. We believe that this session would be of interest Consumers do not save enough (Kotlikoff, Spivak, and Summers to researchers studying anthropomorphism, financial decision-mak- 1982), particularly in the United States, where credit scores continue ing, and consumer welfare more generally. We think that the session to rise (Camara 2012). It is estimated that over 85% of Americans will stimulate discussion among researchers in these subjects, and would be in immediate financial difficulty if they lost their jobs or that the four papers will provide new ideas for future research in had to deal with any other crises (Jones 2015). Accordingly, a lot of anthropomorphism and related areas. research has been devoted to developing effective interventions to The first paper by Wang, Kim, and Zhou finds that when mon- help consumers to reach their optimal saving levels (Ersner-Hersh- ey is anthropomorphized, people will save more money rather than field et al. 2011; Soman and Cheema 2011; Soman and Zhao 2011; spend it. This research has important implications for consumer fi- Ulkumen and Cheema 2011). However, previous research on money nancial decision-making and welfare, since it suggests that anthro- saving usually treats money as an object or an instrument. In this pomorphizing money might be an effective way to get people to save research, we focus on a seemingly simple psychological shift in con- more money. Consumers do not save enough money, particularly in struing money—namely, anthropomorphizing money. Specifically, the United States where credit scores and spending continue to rise we examined whether imbuing money with humanlike characteris- (Camara 2012). tics can impact the amount of money consumers are willing to save. The second paper by Kim, Puzakova, Kwak, and Jeong finds The current research suggests that anthropomorphizing money that brand anthropomorphization increases selling prices and de- leads people to perceive money as having the capacity to feel and creases buying prices for used products, due to stronger emotional sense (Gray, Gray and Wegner 2007); thus, anthropomorphized mon- attachment by sellers, and perceptions of relationship-dissolution- ey is perceived to be capable of benefiting from good or suffering stigma by buyers. Different financial valuations of humanized prod- from evil (Gray, Young and Waytz 2012). Consequently, compared ucts by buyers and sellers may lead to a less efficient market for used to objectified money, anthropomorphized money is perceived to be goods, thereby negatively affecting consumer welfare. more sensitive to harm and thus to be more vulnerable (Dijker 2010; While the first two papers focus on anthropomorphism’s effects Gray and Wegner 2009), which activates consumers’ protective ten- on saving, buying, and selling behavior, the latter two papers focus dency. Therefore, we argue that money anthropomorphism would more generally on consumers’ willingness to spend money on an- significantly increase consumers’ saving intention, as consumers will thropomorphized products, while maintaining a focus on consumer attempt to protect anthropomorphized money from potential harm. welfare. We tested this prediction with five studies. The third paper by Levy, Kim, and Reed II examines how a A pilot study examined consumers’ natural tendency to anthro- consumer’s moral identity affects perceptions of and willingness to pomorphize money, their general tendency to anthropomorphize non-human entities and their saving intention. Correlation analy- Advances in Consumer Research 350 Volume 45, ©2017 Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 45) / 351 ses showed that consumers’ natural tendency to anthropomorphize money. The results showed that participants actually kept their sav- money was positively correlated with saving intention, whereas their ing plan and saved more money when they construed money as a general anthropomorphism tendency was not. In the main studies, human rather than as a mere object. we manipulated money anthropomorphism to test its causal effect on saving intention and behaviors; more importantly, we also sought to Beauty (Value) is in the Eye of the Beholder: How understand the psychological process that mediates this causal rela- Anthropomorphism Affects the Pricing of Used Products tionship, as well as some boundary conditions in which this relationship does or does not emerge. EXTENDED ABSTRACT In Study 1a, the money anthropomorphism manipulation fol- Marketers often strategically use anthropomorphism (i.e., im- lowed Aggarwal and McGill (2012), in that participants were in- buing nonhuman objects with humanlike characteristics; Aggarwal structed to imagine that money had come to life as a person and to and McGill 2007) as a brand positioning strategy for their products describe the sort of person money would be. Study 1A showed that and services. Overall, prior work in the area has shown the impact of participants were more likely to save a higher percentage of their brand anthropomorphization at different stages of brand relationship income when they anthropomorphized it than when they construed it development and maintenance—on brand evaluations, consumer- as an object or when they anthropomorphized a financial institution brand interactions, and the relationship duration processes (Chandler (e.g., a bank). Participants who construed a financial institute as a and Schwarz 2010; Puzakova, Kwak, and Rocereto 2013). However, human were more likely to save their income than participants who what is still missing from this past work is an understanding of the construed money as an object. impact of brand anthropomorphization on consumer decisions after In Study 1B, we used a different method to manipulate money the relationships with the brand have dissolved. In this research, we anthropomorphism, in which participants were instructed to imagine fill this important gap by examining the impact of brand anthropo- that money had come to life as a person and think about what type of morphization on the valuation (selling vs. buying prices) of used personality money would have. They rated money’s personality on products, the novel context in which consumer-brand relationships five bipolar scales representing the Big Five personality traits (Gos- end with a pre-owner’s decision to dispose of a used product. There- ling, Rentfrow and Swann Jr. 2003). To strengthen the manipulation, fore, the present research aims to make a critical contribution to prior participants were also asked to describe what type of face money work on the endowment effect by showing that buyers and sellers would have based on the personality they had described. Study 1B are both influenced by the same factor, namely, brand positioning replicated study 1A’s findings with a different population. strategy. In study 2, we used the same money anthropomorphism ma- Prior research in anthropomorphism demonstrates that consum- nipulation as Study 1b, but we used a different measure of saving in- ers are more likely to develop stronger emotional connections and tention and measured the perception of vulnerability associated with experiences with humanized (vs. nonhumanized) brands (Chandler money to test the underlying mechanism for the positive effect of and Schwarz 2010). Here, we posit that even after consumers decide money anthropomorphism on saving intention. A mediation analysis to end their brand relationships, they will have stronger self-brand showed that the effect of money anthropomorphism on participants’ connections to the products when they are humanized (vs. nonhu- intention to save money was mediated by increased vulnerability manized) leading to higher product valuations and, thus, higher perception of money. That is, money anthropomorphism led people product selling prices. Next, we build on research demonstrating to consider money to be more vulnerable and thus made them more that during the relationship dissolution stage, individuals become likely to protect it by saving it. particularly concerned with extending themselves in time and being Study 3 examined a boundary condition for the money anthro- connected to their past (Richins 1994). More specifically, we rely pomorphism effect. We hypothesized that when saving was con- on prior work showing that consumers with more positive (vs. less strued as an unsafe option, saving money would not be an ideal way positive) attitudes toward the past develop greater attachments to ob- to protect money, and money anthropomorphism would not increase jects and people present in their past. Thus, we propose that sellers’ saving intention. Half of the participants were led to construe money more positive attitudes toward the past are likely to facilitate their saving as an unsafe option. Specifically, they read a news article emotional connections to brands when they are anthropomorphized that described a retirement account as not safe. The other half read (vs. nonanthropomorphized), thus, resulting in higher selling prices a news article about food safety (i.e., control condition). The results for used products. revealed a significant interaction between money anthropomorphism Next, in the buyer context, we propose a new social schema— and manipulation of perceived safety of saving money. Specifically, relationship-dissolution-stigma—that buyers are likely to apply to- money anthropomorphism increased saving intention in the control ward anthropomorphized brands while setting their prices for used condition, replicating the finding in the previous studies, but money products. In general, stigma is defined as an attribute that makes anthropomorphism did not increase saving intention when partici- an individual to be perceived as deviant, less desired, and socially pants construed saving money as an unsafe option. discredited (Goffman 1963). For example, past research delineates Study 4 measured participants’ real saving plans. Specifically, that people stigmatize others who ended their relationships (e.g., we contacted students from a list of students who had received a divorce, separation). Prior research indicates that divorced people scholarship to business school. Right after participants received tend to suffer from “informal, relational sanctions” and are perceived the scholarship, they completed a survey in which we implemented as less desirable as partners for new relationships (Konstam et al. money anthropomorphism and measured their saving and spend- 2016). Given that consumers also end relationships with their brands ing plans for the scholarship. The results showed that partici- (Fournier 1998), we propose that buyers are likely to stigmatize an- pants indicated a higher saving intention after construing money as thropomorphized used products by perceiving them as “rejected” by a human and allocated a higher percentage of their scholarship to a pre-owner, potentially unacceptable for other people, and as be- saving compared to participants who construed money as an object. ing responsible for relationship dissolution. Thus, an application of In the last week of the semester, we contacted the students again relationship-dissolution-stigma to an anthropomorphized (vs. nonan- and asked them to recall their actual spending of their scholarship thropomorphized) used product is likely to decrease a buyer’s evalu- 352 / New Perspectives on Anthropomorphism: Examining the Role of Anthropomorphism in Financial Decision-Making and Consumer Welfare ation of this used product, thus, resulting in lower buying prices. Fur- consumers in an advertisement, and describe a product using first- thermore, prior research suggests that the activation of stigma can person language. Consumer researchers have made good progress be attenuated by people’s way of thinking. In particular, activating a over the past decade in uncovering the types of situations in which creative mindset disrupts a reliance on stereotypical associations and consumers will have a more positive vs. negative evaluation of an- results in incorporation of novel information into a decision-making thropomorphized brands. process (Sassenberg and Moskowitz 2005). As such, we propose However, most (if not all) consumer research has considered that consumers with more creative mindsets are less likely to apply brands simply as anthropomorphized vs. non-anthropomorphized, the relationship-dissolution stigma toward anthropomorphized used without investigating these perceptions more deeply. Prior research products, thus, attenuating the negative effect of brand anthropomor- has not examined what individual or situational differences might phization on buying prices for used products. lead consumers to consider an anthropomorphized brand as more We tested these ideas in three studies. In each study, participants (vs. less) human, and downstream consequences of this perception. were randomly assigned to either a buying condition or a selling We redress this oversight by examining the relationship between condition. In Study 1 (n = 120), in the seller condition, participants moral identity, brand humanness perceptions, and preferences for viewed an ad for a fictitious brand of toasters (anthropomorphized vs. and attitudes toward anthropomorphized brands. nonanthropomorphized), were asked to imagine buying and owning An influential perspective of morality holds that being a moral the product for a year, and then selling it on eBay. We measured the person involves expanding the circle of moral regard and care to minimum starting bid price for the product. Similarly, in the buyer include entities that extend well beyond oneself and one’s current condition, participants indicated the maximum price they would bid situation (Singer 1981; 2009). For example, a highly moral person for the same used product. Study 2 (n = 124) examined the impact of should give moral care to people in distant lands whom one may anthropomorphism on buying and selling prices for a fictitious brand never actually meet, as well as to animals, nature, the environment, of juicers in the fixed-price setting (e.g., deals on Craigslist). The planet Earth, etc. Building on this perspective, research has shown results of both studies showed that participants reported higher sell- that people higher in moral identity, defined as “a self-conception ing prices (Study 1: Manth = $28.21, Mnonanth = $19.70; F(1,57) = 8.07, organized around a set of moral traits” (Aquino and Reed 2002), ex- p < .05; Study 2: Manth = $33.58, Mnonanth = $29.13; F(1,59) = 8.09, tend greater care to outgroups relative to in-groups (Reed and Aquino p < .05) and lower buying prices (Study 1: Manth = $23.37, Mnonanth 2003). That is, people who place a greater importance on moral traits

= $30.03; F(1,59) = 11.11, p < .05; Study 2: Manth = $17.06, Mnonanth give more of their resources and care to social outgroups. A second = $22.97; F(1.61) = 8.06, p < .05) for a humanized (vs. nonhuman- major perspective on morality holds that “mind perception” is the es- ized) brand. sence of morality (Gray, Young, and Waytz 2012). Thus, individual Next, in Study 3 (n = 183), in the seller condition, the results and situational factors may impact whether an entity is perceived to showed a significant main effect of brand anthropomorphization on have “mind” in the form of greater perceived humanness selling prices (β = 10.75, p < .05) and a significant two-way interac- Based on these conceptualizations of morality, we predict that tion between brand anthropomorphization and consumers’ attitudes one’s moral identity should impact one’s attitudes toward and prefer- toward the past (β = 9.23, p < .05), thus, supporting our prediction ences for an anthropomorphized brand. Though anthropomorphized that sellers’ attitudes toward the past moderates the core effect. In brands are not actually human, by nature they possess human-like addition, we found that self-brand connection mediates the effect of cues and characteristics. A critical factor in evaluating whether enti- brand anthropomorphization on selling prices only for respondents ties are anthropomorphized is whether relevant agent knowledge is with more positive attitudes toward the past (a point estimate for the elicited (Epley, Waytz, and Cacioppo 2007); that is, whether knowl- effect = 4.61; 95% CI = [.50, 12.73]). In the buyer condition, the edge about humans is used and applied in a particular situation. We results of ANOVA showed a significant main effect of brand anthro- believe that higher moral identifiers should be more likely to recog- pomorphization on buying prices (Manth = $46.25, Mnonanth = $55.70; nize, accept, and prefer these humanized characteristics to a greater F(1, 114) = 11.32, p < .05) and a significant interaction between a extent than would people lower in moral identity. Formally, consumer’s mindset and brand anthropomorphization (F(1, 114) = 4.11, p < .05), with anthropomorphism decreasing buying prices only Hypothesis 1: Consumers higher in moral identity, relative to consumers lower in moral identity, will exhibit for consumers with less creative mindsets (Manth = $41.63, Mnonanth = $56.92; F(1, 114) = 14.29, p < .05). Finally, relationship-dissolution greater preference for an anthropomorphized stigma mediated the effect of brand anthropomorphization on buy- brand (vs. a non-anthropomorphized brand). ing prices only for participants with less creative mindsets (a point estimate for the effect = –1.69; 95% CI = [–4.90, –.10]). Hypothesis 2: Consumers higher in moral identity, relative to Overall, we find consistent evidence that brand anthropomor- consumers lower in moral identity, will perceive phization increases (decreases) selling (buying) prices of used prod- an anthropomorphized (vs. non-anthropomor- ucts leading to stronger endowment effect. Our research provides phized) brand to seem more human, which will novel theoretical insights into the boundary conditions of the core mediate the interactive effect of moral identity effects, as well as sellers and buyers’ differential psychological pro- and anthropomorphism on brand preference. cesses that influence prices of used products. Studies 1, 2, and 3 tested H1, and studies 2 and 3 tested H2. Moral Identity and Brand Anthropomorphism Each of the three studies used a different form of anthropomorphism, and a different product type, to ensure the generalizability of the EXTENDED ABSTRACT findings. Study 1 manipulated anthropomorphism through a 1st vs. 3rd Marketers frequently use anthropomorphized, or human-like person description of a product- “JK Battery” (manipulation taken representations of brands in their brand communications (Aggarwal from Chen,Wan, and Levy 2017), and measured participants’ moral and McGill 2007). For example, marketers can incorporate human- identity using the Aquino and Reed (2002) moral identity scale. Re- like facial features into their products, have a product “speak” to sults showed a significant interaction, whereby consumers higher in Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 45) / 353 moral identity displayed higher purchase intentions for the anthropo- style. In the following sections, we first review the research back- morphized (vs. non-anthropomorphized) brand. Interestingly, there ground to derive our predictions and then present three studies that was a negative main effect of anthropomorphism, such that people test our hypotheses. overall preferred the non-anthropomorphized brand. This suggests Previous research suggests that the mental processes involved that brand anthropomorphism may not always be beneficial, but in thinking about human-beings govern cognition about objects rather that its effects may depend on situational or individual factors when people anthropomorphize objects (Castelli, Happé, Frith, and such as one’s moral identity. Frith 2000; Epley et al. 2007). In order to uncover the thinking style In study 2 anthropomorphism was manipulated by having par- that dominates people’s perception of anthropomorphized products, ticipants view either an anthropomorphized or non-anthropomor- it is important to understand how people perceive other persons. Re- phized image of “Orange Vie” orange juice (manipulation taken from search in impression formation shows that people use both a person’s Puzakova, Kwak, and Rocereto 2013). Moral identity was measured. category membership and his/her particular attributes to form gener- Consistent with the results of study 1, higher moral identity was as- al impression (Brewer 1988). But the category-based process, which sociated with higher purchase intentions and brand attitudes when is more holistic and follows gestalt principles, has priority over the the brand was anthropomorphized (vs. not). Supporting the proposed attribute-oriented process, which is piecemeal and elemental (Fiske psychological mechanism, a moderated-mediation test (Hayes PRO- and Neuberg 1990). Consistently, the person construal system theory CESS Model 7) showed that this result was due to higher moral iden- (Freeman and Ambady 2011) suggests that people detect physical tifiers ascribing greater humanness to the anthropomorphized brand. features of a target person (e.g., body cues), and integrate such cues In study 3, participants viewed either an anthropomorphized to form a holistic impression of the target person. These findings sug- picture of the “M&M’s characters” or a non-anthropomorphized pic- gest that person construal involves the attention to the whole person. ture of M&M’s candies. In the anthropomorphism condition, partici- Drawing on anthropomorphism and person perception literature, pants were asked to think about the M&M’s as if they had come to we predict that anthropomorphism would promote holistic thinking life as a person, while in the non-anthropomorphized condition they style, which distributes attention to the whole (Nisbett, Peng, Choi, were asked to think about the attributes of M&M’s candy (manipula- and Norenzayan 2001), in contrast to analytic thinking style which tion adapted from Aggarwal and McGill 2012). Participants’ moral focuses more on the parts (Nisbett et al. 2001). identity was measured. Results again showed an interaction effect, The theory of thought system (Nisbett et al. 2001) suggests that whereby higher moral identity led to higher purchase intentions and holistic thinkers have a greater tendency to draw relationships be- brand attitudes when the brand was anthropomorphized (vs. non-an- tween objects. For example, holistic thinkers tend to indicate higher thropomorphized). Moderated-mediation results (Hayes PROCESS degrees of association between pairs of arbitrary objects, and they Model 7) again showed that the underlying psychological mecha- are good at connecting objects together (Ji, Peng, and Nisbett 2000). nism was higher moral identifiers’ ascription of greater humanness Marketing researchers have documented that holistic thinkers (vs. to the anthropomorphized brand. analytic thinkers) tend to perceive closer relationships between the In conclusion, this research is the first to examine how moral parent brand and an extension, and also perceive higher brand exten- identity affects preference for anthropomorphized brands. It is also sion fit (Monga and John 2007). That is, holistic thinkers are more the first research we know of to examine whether an individual dif- likely to see the parent brand and the extension as an entity. We ference variable affects the degree to which an anthropomorphized therefore predicted that holistic thinkers would be more likely to see brand is seen as human. We found that consumers higher in moral all the product options as an entity, which in turn promotes the choice identity preferred anthropomorphized (vs. non-anthropomorphized) of all the product options. To test our predictions, we examined the brands due to greater perceived humanness of the anthropomor- effect of anthropomorphism on thinking style in experiment 1 and phized brand. These results support the proposition that mind per- the downstream effect on consumers’ choice in experiments 2 and 3. ception is an essential aspect of morality, and also provide evidence Experiment 1 tested the effect of anthropomorphism on think- that that higher moral identity is associated with expanding the circle ing style. We first manipulated anthropomorphism by asking- par of moral regard to include anthropomorphized brands. ticipants to write down their thoughts of a laptop computer either as a person or an object (Aggarwal and McGill 2012). After that, The Influence of Anthropomorphism on we measured participants’ thinking style by asking participants to Choosing Multiple Products from an Assortment complete the locus of attention scale (Choi, Koo, and Choi 2007) which is commonly used to assess holistic (vs. analytic) thinking EXTENDED ABSTRACT style. We found that participants in the anthropomorphism (vs. non- Anthropomorphism, defined as attributing physical features anthropomorphism) condition tend to think more holistically. and mental capacities that are unique to human-beings to non-human Experiment 2 tested the effect of anthropomorphism on con- agents (Epley, Waytz, and Cacioppo 2007), is commonly employed sumer choice. In particular, we examined consumer choice of prod- in marketing communication. Consumers often see talking cars (e.g., ucts from an assortment. Participants first read a hypothetical sce- Ford) and chocolate candies with legs and arms (e.g., M&M’s) in nario in which they shop around and find yogurts with four different commercials. Recent consumer research on anthropomorphism has apple flavors (i.e., red delicious, golden delicious, yellow transpar- primarily focused on consumers’ response to one specific product, ent, and cripps pink). We followed the same method in experiment 1 such as consumer evaluation (Landwehr, McGill, and Herrmann to manipulate anthropomorphism. To measure consumer choice, we 2011) and replacement intention (Chandler and Schwarz 2010) of first asked participants to assume that they tried the sample of each an anthropomorphized product. But whether anthropomorphism flavor and form different preference scores for the four flavors (i.e., can systematically influence consumers’ choice of multiple options 4 for red delicious and yellow transparent; 6 for grimes golden and from a product assortment remains an intriguing and uninvestigated cripps pink; 1 = do not like the flavor; 7 = like the flavor very much). question. The current research aims to fill this research gap by in- Then the participants were informed that retailer offers a promotion vestigating the effect of anthropomorphism on consumers’ choice of package (with special discount) containing four packs of yogurts, multiple product options from the perspective of consumer thinking and that they can choose any combinations of flavor for the four 354 / New Perspectives on Anthropomorphism: Examining the Role of Anthropomorphism in Financial Decision-Making and Consumer Welfare packs. For example, they can form the promotion package by choos- Epley, Nicholas, Adam Waytz, and John T. Cacioppo ing one pack of each flavor, or four packs of the same flavor, or two (2007), “On Seeing Human: A Three-Factor Theory of packs of one flavor plus two packs of another flavor. Results of this Anthropomorphism,” Psychological Review, 114(4), 864–86. experiment revealed that participants in the anthropomorphism (vs. Ersner-Hershfield, Hal, Daniel G. Goldstein, William F. Sharpe, non-anthropomorphism) condition were more likely to choose the Jesse Fox, Leo Yeykelis, Laura L. Carstensen and Jeremy whole set of yogurts (i.e., putting one pack of each flavor in the pro- N. Bailenson (2011), “Increasing Saving Behavior through motion package). Age-Progressed Renderings of the Future Self,” Journal of Experiment 3 aimed to replicate the results of experiment 2 and Marketing Research, 48(1), 23-37. to reveal the mechanism by measuring the mediator (i.e., holistic Fiske, Susan T., and Steven L. Neuberg (1990), “A Continuum thinking). The procedure was the same as experiment 2 except the Model of Impression Formation from Category-based to following two changes. First, we changed the four yogurt flavors to Individuating Processes: Influences of Information and vanilla, coffee, strawberry, and mango. We asked participants to base Motivation on Attention and Interpretation,” Advances in their choice on their intrinsic preference for the four familiar flavors, Experimental Social Psychology, 23, 1–74. rather than assume preference for the unfamiliar flavors used in ex- Fournier, Susan (1998), “Consumers and Their Brands: Developing periment 1. 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