Abstract
Natural objects such as mountains, seas, and tress are often anthropomorphized. Previous green research focused on the comparison between anthropomorphization and non-anthropomorphization and is largely silent regarding the taxonomy of anthropomorphic styles. This research proposes two types of anthropomorphic styles based on facial emotion, happy and sad, and examines how issue proximity impacts the selection of anthropomorphic style. Two experiments are conducted with various dependent measures (i.e., attitudes toward the green product, purchase intentions, and donation amount). Results indicate that a sad face is more effective when the green issue is framed as more proximal (i.e., feeling closer with shorter physical distance or near future). However, a happy face works better when the green issue is perceived as less proximal (i.e., feeling far away in physical or temporal distance). Perspective taking serves as the underlying mechanism to explain the interaction between anthropomorphic style and issue proximity.
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Chang, CT., Huang, GH., Liu, PC. (2018). Dire Straits, Sad Planet: How Facial Emotion, Anthropomorphism, and Issue Proximity Affect Green Communication. In: Krey, N., Rossi, P. (eds) Boundary Blurred: A Seamless Customer Experience in Virtual and Real Spaces. AMSAC 2018. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99181-8_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99181-8_18
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