When previous relationships limit the new: The interplay between product anthropomorphism and used products

Abstract

This research contributes novel insights into consumer-brand relationships and pricing literature by establishing the negative impact of product anthropomorphism on buyers’ purchase intentions and purchase prices for used products. Drawing on prior research on relationship-dissolution stigma (a pervasive stereotype toward people with dissolved relationships), we show that buyers apply stigma attributions to anthropomorphized used products. This stigma attribution, in turn, decreases consumers’ purchase intentions compared to their nonanthropomorphized counterparts. We establish this negative effect through the use of AI deep learning neural networks that classify products as anthropomorphized or not and five experiments. We further uncover several important boundary conditions. First, we show that the negative effect is mitigated when a seller describes a high level of attachment toward a used product. Second, our research establishes that the negative effect of product anthropomorphism reverses when consumers learn of external reasons for selling a used product. Finally, we provide significant managerial implications by demonstrating that a used product labeling strategy as certified pre-owned (vs. merely used) attenuates the negative effect of product anthropomorphism on the valuation of used products.