Anthropomorphism and Beyond! Conventional and Innovative Approaches to

Anthropomorphic Advertising and Subsequent Effects on Global Society

Joshua ShafferBusiness Administration: MarketingCollege of Business Administration

Savannah State Universitye-mail: jshaffe1@student.savannahstate.edu

Overview

• Motivation for research• Purpose of research/focus questions• Conventional & Innovative Anthropomorphism• Literature review• Research methodology• Conceptual frameworks• Data analysis• Discussions• Conclusions/Future Research• Questions

Motivation for Research • Anthropomorphism is an interpretation of what is not human in

terms of human or personal characteristics.

• Anthropomorphic Advertising has been a prevalent concept in advertising campaigns for many years now.

• Anthropomorphic Advertising is inexpensive, yet effective.

• Anthropomorphic Advertising encompasses more than just “typical” ads featuring cartoon characters. New Anthropomorphic ad campaigns are clever and creative.

Anthropomorphic Advertising

Human interaction with Aflac duck

Duck hands over money

Aflac duck introduces brand

Pigeon represents competitor

Frogs start rapping

Animals close commercial together

Research Purpose & Objectives

• This research focuses on the effects of anthropomorphism in advertising. This paper investigates the following questions:

– What factors encourage or create anthropomorphism in consumers?– What effects do anthropomorphic advertising and anthropomorphic

feelings created by advertising have on consumers?– How does anthropomorphic advertising affect the global society?

Conventional Anthropomorphic Advertising

Conventional Anthropomorphic Advertising•All advertisements which fit the standard definition for anthropomorphic advertising.•Type of advertising that most people would recognize readily and clearly.•Examples include M & M’s spokescharacters, Geico Gecko•Existent in literature

Conventional Anthropomorphism

Female M&M talking to humans at party

Showing emotion towards human men

Enter male M&M’s character

Strips “candy shell” and dances to background music

Closes commercial with reinforcing tagline

Explaining that she is not actually naked

Conventional Anthropomorphic Advertising

Client: Kairos Kid & Family Aid Agency: Maruri Publicidad, Ecuador

Cause-RelatedRelationship-Strength

Client: TideAgency: Miami Ad School, San Francisco

Innovative Anthropomorphic Advertising

Innovative Anthropomorphic Advertising•Research contribution•A new way to create anthropomorphic feelings in consumers.•Utilized in ads which do not feature anthropomorphism inside the ad, but are aimed at creating anthropomorphic feelings as a result.•Often display inanimate objects in the ad, but the anthropomorphic feelings are as a result of either words on the ad or the emotional connection created with the consumer.

Innovative AnthropomorphismIndia Netherlands

Innovative Anthropomorphic Print AdsGermany Norway

Client: IBMAgency: Ogilvy, France

Brand Personality

Brand Personality

Client: KayaKingAgency: Ogilvy & Mather,

Indonesia

Client: British Columbia AMAAgency: Grey Canada, Vancouver,

Canada

Constructs used in Literature• Attitude Toward the

Advertisement – Subjects' evaluations of the

overall advertising stimulus (Mitchell and Olson 1981)

• Ad believability– The strength with which a

consumer associates a brand with a certain attribute or outcome (Yoo and MacInnis, 2005)

– For example, how strongly they believe that a product has a whitening ingredient or that it makes teeth 50% whiter than regular toothpaste brands

• Ad irritation– A prevalent response to disliked

commercials (Fennis and Bakker, 2001)

• Brand Personality– Refers to the set of human

characteristics associated with a brand (Aaker, 1997)

– Just like human personality

Conceptual FrameworkANTHROPOMORPHISM MODEL

Ad Believability

Ad Irritation

Attitude Towards Ad (Aad)

H1: Aad is dependent on Ad Believability & Ad Irritation

Conceptual FrameworkANTHROPOMORPHISM MODEL

Ad Believability

Ad Irritation

Brand Personality

H1: Brand Personality is dependent on Ad Believability & Ad Irritation

Research MethodologyFive Relevant

Advertising Websites like Ads of the World,

Coloribus, etc.

Measures• Attitude toward the ad (Mitchell and Olson

1981; seven-point semantic differential scales):

– Bad—Good– Unpleasant—Pleasant– Unfavorable—Favorable– Negative—Positive

• Ad believability (Bhat, Leigh, and Wardlow 1998; seven-point semantic differential scales):

– Convincing—Unconvincing (reverse)– Not credible—Credible– Unacceptable—Acceptable– Untruthful—Truthful– Believable—Unbelievable (reverse)

• Ad irritation (Bhat, Leigh, and Wardlow 1998; seven-point semantic differential scales):

– Unannoying—Annoying– Unirritating—Irritating– Undisturbing—Disturbing

• Brand Personality (Aaker, 1997; five-point semantic differential scales)

– Charming – Cheerful– Daring– Down-To-Earth– Friendly– Glamorous– Honest– Imaginative– Intelligent– Nice– Outdoorsy– Reliable– Sensual– Sophisticated– Spirited– Stylish– Successful– Tough– Additional– Trendy– Upper-Class– Up-To-Date– Warm– Wholesome

Conventional Anthropomorphic Ad

Client: Mars CandyAgency: BBDO, New York

Ad #1Conventional – Male vs. Female

Data Analysis – Results (Conventional)

Data Analysis – Results (Conventional)

Coefficientsa

Model

Unstandardized

Coefficients

Standardized

Coefficients

t Sig.

Correlations

Collinearity

Statistics

B Std. Error Beta Zero-order Partial Part Tolerance VIF

1 (Constant) 36.370 2.149 16.925 .000

AdBelievability 1.715 .124 .647 13.773 .000 .703 .521 .433 .448 2.233

AdIrritation .287 .180 .075 1.595 .111 .556 .070 .050 .448 2.233

a. Dependent Variable: BrandPersonality

ANOVAb

Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1 Regression 83171.632 2 41585.816 251.124 .000a

Residual 84455.448 510 165.599

Total 167627.080 512

a. Predictors: (Constant), AdIrritation, AdBelievability

b. Dependent Variable: BrandPersonality

Model Summary

Model R R Square

Adjusted R

Square

Std. Error of the

Estimate

1 .704a .496 .494 12.86852

a. Predictors: (Constant), AdIrritation, AdBelievability

Innovative Anthropomorphic Ad

Client: Harley DavidsonAgency: Carmichael Lynch

Ad #2 Innovative – Males vs. Females

Client: Mercedes Benz Agency: BBDO Germany

Innovative Anthropomorphic Ad

Ad #3 – Innovative – Male vs. Female

Innovative Anthropomorphic Ad

Client: AudiAgency: Venables, Bell & Partners

Ad #4 - Innovative – Male vs. Female

Data Analysis – Results (Innovative)Model Summary

Model R R Square

Adjusted R

Square

Std. Error of the

Estimate

1 .892a .796 .795 2.81906

a. Predictors: (Constant), AdIrritation, AdBelievability

ANOVAb

Model

Sum of

Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1 Regression 10698.561 2 5349.281 673.110 .000a

Residual 2733.808 344 7.947    

Total 13432.369 346      

a. Predictors: (Constant), AdIrritation, AdBelievability    

b. Dependent Variable: Aad        Coefficientsa

Model

Unstandardized

Coefficients

Standardized

Coefficients

t Sig.

Correlations

Collinearity

Statistics

B Std. Error Beta Zero-order Partial Part Tolerance VIF

1 (Constant) 1.287 .520 2.476 .014

AdBelievability .575 .037 .688 15.556 .000 .883 .643 .378 .302 3.307

AdIrritation .302 .057 .234 5.281 .000 .808 .274 .128 .302 3.307

a. Dependent Variable: Aad

Data Analysis – Results (Innovative)Model Summary

Model R R Square

Adjusted R

Square

Std. Error of the

Estimate

1 .726a .526 .523 14.85148

a. Predictors: (Constant), AdIrritation, AdBelievability

ANOVAb

Model

Sum of

Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1 Regression 71852.220 2 35926.110 162.881 .000a

Residual 64625.942 293 220.566    

Total 136478.162 295      

a. Predictors: (Constant), AdIrritation, AdBelievability    

b. Dependent Variable: BrandPersonality      

Coefficientsa

Model

Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients

t Sig.

Correlations Collinearity Statistics

B Std. Error Beta Zero-order Partial Part Tolerance VIF

1 (Constant) 33.037 2.947 11.210 .000

AdBelievability 1.898 .211 .664 9.003 .000 .725 .465 .362 .297 3.369

AdIrritation .319 .328 .072 .973 .331 .629 .057 .039 .297 3.369

a. Dependent Variable: BrandPersonality

Discussions & Managerial Implications

• Anthropomorphic advertising will continue to prevail as an important marketing tool.

• The research introduces a new advertising approach to be used by marketers and advertisers – Innovative Anthropomorphic Advertising.

• Anthropomorphic advertising is already having a profound effect on global society due to apparent differences in the usage and applications of conventional and innovative anthropomorphic advertising across cultures.

• Major Contribution - With the advancement of technology, innovative anthropomorphic advertising will likely become more prevalent in its uses. Since this new form focuses on feelings rather than living creatures, its deemed to be less expensive and fit for use by small businesses and advertisers.

Conclusion & Future Research• The research introduces a new advertising approach / appeal to be

investigated by academics and practitioners – Innovative Anthropomorphic Advertising

• Research is exploratory and preliminary• Females typically preferred anthropomorphic ads vs. males• Global trends – Innovative (Europe & Asia), and Conventional (Western)• Initial research suggested that conventional anthropomorphism was more

effective• My results show nearly equivalent relevance for both conventional and

innovative• Innovative anthropomorphic advertising is a future research area of inquiry

for advertisers to explore inexpensive methods of advertising by focusing more on feelings

QUESTIONS ?

Anthropomorphism and Beyond! Conventional and Innovative Approaches to Anthropomorphic

Advertising and Subsequent Effects on Society

Joshua ShafferBusiness Administration: MarketingCollege of Business Administration

Savannah State Universitye-mail: jshaffe1@student.savannahstate.edu