The Impact Of Anthropomorphic Marketing On Consumer Brand Attitude For Clothing Brand

"Anthropomorphism" is a unique human cognitive phenomenon that refers to the human perception of non-human entities as having human-like features of appearance,thought,emotion,etc.,and thus the perception of non-human things as living,feeling beings.Anthropomorphism comes from the innate human tendency to anthropomorphize.By manipulating and satisfying consumers' anthropomorphic tendency,companies/brands can effectively enhance consumers' overall impression and comprehensive evaluation of the brand/product.Phenomenologically,anthropomorphism is widely used by marketers.From advertising design to packaging and product design,many companies create a unique virtual image of their product or brand to capture consumer attention and increase brand anthropomorphic perception.With the development of social media,the communication and interaction between brands and consumers is more convenient and direct,and the scope of anthropomorphic marketing is also expanding,anthropomorphic communication can bring consumers closer to the psychological distance,meet the social needs of consumers,and then establish emotional ties with consumers.Rather than creating virtual anthropomorphic images,apparel brands more often rely on real people to guide consumers to understand the brand as "human".From a theoretical point of view,although in recent years anthropomorphic marketing research has become a hotspot in the field of marketing research,but in the past the focus of anthropomorphic research has mainly focused on brands such as cars,food,drugs and other categories,the research on anthropomorphic marketing of clothing brands is very limited.Research has focused on the specific effects of anthropomorphic marketing,and few studies have explored the factors that influence consumers'anthropomorphic perceptions from the perspective of businesses.Based on previous research on anthropomorphic marketing,this study introduces the concept of anthropomorphism into the field of marketing of apparel brands,using a combination of qualitative and empirical research to explore the feasibility of manipulating apparel brands and satisfying consumers' anthropomorphic tendencies to benefit the brand,providing a new marketing perspective for differentiation strategies of clothing brands.The study is divided into four parts.Study 1:Based on the existing research results of anthropomorphism,a rooted theory approach is adopted to develop an integrated,systematic anthropomorphism conceptual framework applicable to clothing brands,including the constitutive factors of anthropomorphism,the mechanism of action,the impact of anthropomorphism on consumers and the applicable boundaries.The three types of anthropomorphic clues that influence consumers' anthropomorphic perception are defined:brand impression clues,character impression clues and communication interaction clues.It is proposed that apparel companies can stimulate consumers' anthropomorphic perception through the anthropomorphic operation at three levels:brand attributes,branding and association of characters,and communication interaction,and carry out branding and communication,thereby enhancing consumers' brand attitudes at the cognitive,emotional and behavioral levels.Study 2:Based on the conceptual framework of brand anthropomorphism constructed by rooted research,combined with the combing and collation of relevant literature,the conceptual model of apparel brand anthropomorphic marketing research,i.e.the mechanism of the role of anthropomorphic marketing effects,was established and tested by questionnaire survey.It was found that brand anthropomorphism has a significant positive effect on brand attitude;brand anthropomorphism narrows the psychological distance between consumers and brands,and the closer the perceived psychological distance between consumers and brands,the better their brand attitude towards that brand;psychological distance plays a partial mediating role between brand anthropomorphism and brand attitude,and brand anthropomorphism can have a significant positive effect on brand attitude through psychological distance;consumers'self-brand association does not have a moderating role between perceived brand anthropomorphism and psychological distance.Study 3:An exploratory study was conducted on the factors influencing consumers' anthropomorphic perception of clothing brands,and the core elements were extracted from the constitutive elements of anthropomorphism of clothing brands proposed in the qualitative study.Specifically,the brand's products,design style are most likely to be perceived by consumers as people,followed by the brand philosophy,brand culture and corporate responsibility,followed by the brand's stores.The influence of the brand's designers,spokespersons and models on consumers' anthropomorphic perceptions is greater in the "character impression cues"."Communicating interactive cues" in which brands use people's identities or tone of voice to convey messages and publish interactive content has a greater impact on consumers' anthropomorphic perceptions.Study 4:Based on the results of the above study,a preliminary anthropomorphization strategy was designed for the case clothing brand,and a comparison experiment was used.The results of the comparison experiment showed that it was feasible to manipulate the case brand anthropomorphization,and the anthropomorphization perception of consumers could be effectively enhanced;the preliminary anthropomorphization strategy could significantly enhance consumers'brand attitude towards the case brand.For anthropomorphic manipulated case brands,the influence of anthropomorphic perception on brand attitudes is more direct and effective,in which psychological distance plays only a partial mediating role.And when the case brand does not engage in anthropomorphic manipulation,the influence of anthropomorphic perception on brand attitude,psychological distance plays a full mediating role.