The influence of brand personification and agricultural product type on consumer brand attitudes

With the increasing attention of brand managers to brand image building of agricultural products, it is particularly important to explore strategies to effectively enhance the brand image of agricultural products. This study explores the applicability of anthropomorphic marketing strategies in the field of agricultural products and their impact through three Study designs. In Study 1A, we explored the effects of anthropomorphization or not of agricultural product brands on consumer brand attitudes. Study 1B further classified the types of brand anthropomorphism, which extended and verified the hypotheses of Study 1A. In Study 2, we explored the effects of the interaction between brand anthropomorphization type and agricultural product type on consumer brand attitudes. The results showed that consumers had more positive attitudes toward anthropomorphized product brands (competence or passion) compared to non-anthropomorphized ones. In addition, the Study results demonstrated that brand anthropomorphization type and product type have an interactive effect on consumers’ brand attitudes. The findings of this study have important theoretical and practical value for image design and branding of agricultural products. On the one hand, this study verifies the effectiveness of anthropomorphism strategies and their impact in the context of agricultural products; on the other hand, it advances theoretical research on anthropomorphism within the field of branding.