Cute Or Professional? Research On The Influence Of Spokes-characters Characteristics On The Perceived Functional Utility Of Safety-oriented Products

With the development of the times and the advancement of technology,marketers have begun to use spokes-characters in more and more brand advertisements and promotions,and more and more consider the match degree between spokes-characters they design(choose)and their endorse brands(products).Existing research shows that product type is a major reference for marketers when designing brand identity.Focusing on safety-oriented products in the market,we found that some companies choose professional spokes-characters,such as Weirushi's “Wei Shuai” and Wei Meng's “Mr.Wei Meng”,but some companies use cute spokes-characters.Such as Panpan Group's "Panda Panpan." Therefore,we can't help but think about what kind of considerations companies use when designing and using spokescharacters.What are the different effects that spokes-characters with different characteristics can bring to the enterprise?Focusing on safety-oriented products,this study uses the spokes-characters characteristics(cute vs.professional)as independent variables,takes perceived functional utility as a dependent variable,which will affect consumers' choice in purchasing safetyoriented products,aiming to explore the main effect of spokes-characters characteristics on the perceived functional utility of safety-oriented products.In view of the consumer's spontaneous inference about the brand(product)based on the spokes-characters,this paper introduces the perceived environmental insecurity as a mediator variable,and verifies the mediating effect of consumer's perceived environmental insecurity in the process of spokescharacters characteristics affecting perceived functional utility.Based on the different perceived environmental insecurity that different consumers with different personalities may have,this study subsequently validates the moderating role of regulatory focus in regulating the relationship between spokes-characters characteristics and perceived environmental insecurity.In order to further analyze the influence mechanism of spokes-characters characteristics on perceived environmental insecurity,this paper finally explores themediating role of emotional valence in spokes-characters characteristics and perceived environmental insecurity,and further analyzes the chain mediating role of emotional valence and perceived environmental insecurity between spokes-characters characteristics and perceived functional utility.In this paper,the experimental method is used to verify the hypothesis through three main experiments,and the data is analyzed by SPSS21.0 and Process.The research results show that the professional(cute)spokes-characters can enhance(reduce)the consumer's perceived environmental insecurity by reducing(increasing)the consumer's emotional valence,and ultimately improve(reduce)the consumer's perceived functional utility(Experiment 1 and Experiment 3);for consumers with prevention orientation,the influence of spokes-characters characteristics on the perceived functional utility and its internal mechanism are strengthened;on the contrary,for consumers with promotion orientation,the effect is not significant(Experiment 2).Based on the above research conclusions,this paper summarizes the theoretical and practical significance.It proposes relevant marketing suggestions for how to design the spokes-characters image for safety-oriented products to improve the advertising endorsement effect,and further explains the research limitations and future research directions.