Anthropomorphizing Used Products: The Role of Generalized Gratitude During Disposal Decisions

ABSTRACT Gratitude has been widely studied in various contexts, with generalized gratitude representing a prototypical form that involves being thankful for all types of gifts in life, rather than specific benefits conferred by others. While research has explored gratitude's influence on interpersonal behaviors and consumer decision‐making, the impact of generalized gratitude on product disposal decisions remains largely unexamined. To address this gap, we propose that generalized gratitude positively affects the likelihood of retaining used products during disposal decisions (Studies 1a, 1b, and 1c). We further hypothesize that anthropomorphic tendency and emotional attachment act as serial mediators in this relationship (Studies 2a and 2b). Additionally, we suggest that this effect will be attenuated when donation becomes a salient option (Study 3), when product value is high (Study 4), or when the justification for disposal is strong (Study 5). This study offers several unique theoretical contributions. We first advance the literature on gratitude by exploring its prototypical structure and examining the nature of generalized gratitude through the lens of anthropomorphic tendencies. Furthermore, we extend the understanding of disposal behavior by jointly considering a comprehensive set of influential factors, including instant emotion, product state, and situational stimuli. Our findings provide valuable insights for governments and companies, offering a better understanding of how to communicate with consumers through generalized‐gratitude‐related appeals during product disposal decisions.