Location Matters When Advertising Sustainable Products: Influences of Conceptual Metaphor and Anthropomorphism

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of product information placement and the presence or absence of anthropomorphic qualities in advertisements for sustainable products on product evaluation. Grounded in a conceptual metaphor that links rationality with higher locations and emotion with lower locations, we proposed that sustainable products align with higher locations because of their rational traits, whereas, products with anthropomorphic cues align with lower locations because of their emotional traits. The results indicated that consumers evaluated sustainable products more favorably when their image and description were placed higher. Conversely, lower locations yielded more favorable evaluations of the anthropomorphized representations. Moreover, the placement of the image and description in different locations resulted in the metaphor exerting a greater influence on image placement than on description placement. Furthermore, we elucidated personal relevance and processing fluency as the underlying mechanisms. The exploration of conceptual metaphors and anthropomorphism in relation to sustainable consumption has not yet been undertaken. This study offers valuable theoretical insights for each field. Moreover, this study offers novel insights for firms to formulate effective advertising strategies by considering the placement of product information and the presence or absence of anthropomorphic qualities to promote sustainable products.