When Green Products Come Alive: How Anthropomorphism Changes Warmth and Competence Perceptions of Green Products
When Green Products Come Alive: How Anthropomorphism Changes Warmth and Competence Perceptions of Green Products
By Eva, Yiyu Chen
Supervised by Professor Sara Kim, Area Head of Marketing, Professor, HKU Business School
Abstract:
Prior research suggests that anthropomorphism can enhance warmth and competence perceptions of certain products. However, whether green products are subject to enhancement in the two perceptions has not yet been examined. Through laboratory experiments using four different eco-friendly products, we showed a consistent boosting effect of anthropomorphism on perceived warmth, but the effect on competence is more nuanced. Competence was significantly enhanced for green products of which eco-friendliness is high, but not for products with comparatively neutral eco-friendliness. We suggest the reason is that anthropomorphism only enhances existing product features. Anthropomorphism consistently boosts the warmth of green products, since the presence of eco-friendly features entails the good intention of protecting the environment — a signal of warmth. In contrast, the differential competence boosting effect results from products’ varying abilities to implement the intention of environmental protection reflected by different eco-friendliness levels, such that only highly eco-friendly products benefit from anthropomorphism regarding competence perceptions.
Key Words: anthropomorphism, green products, warmth perception, competence perception.