“Ouch!” When and why food anthropomorphism negatively affects consumption

Abstract

Anthropomorphism is a widely used communication strategy—especially popular to promote food products. The current research examines the novel idea that food anthropomorphism negatively affects consumption—reducing consumption amount and deteriorating consumption experience. I argue and show that this negative effect occurs because anthropomorphizing grants the food product the perceived capacity to feel pain, which negatively affects consumption because it increases perceived immorality of consumption. In support of this process, I demonstrate that this negative effect manifests only among warm-hearted (vs. cold-hearted) consumers and in consumption (vs. purchase) decisions. Doing so not only extends anthropomorphism theory by providing a more nuanced understanding of how consumers respond to food anthropomorphism, but also allows to formulate managerial guidelines for the implementation of this strategy.