KOREASCHOLAR

Anthropomorphism is a prevalent marketing practice that fosters consumer perceptions of a brand as humanlike. In today’s hyperconnected marketplace, firms are increasingly imbuing their brands with human features with the hope that the favorable perceptions of humanlike attributes in nonhuman objects could lead to consumers’ positive evaluation of humanized products. For example, Amazon has imbued Echo, a voice-activated Bluetooth speaker, with the human name Alexa, a female voiced virtual assistant that employs familiar human speech pattern, and some advanced personality traits. Similarly, Hormel Foods has used Mr. Peanut, the advertising logo and mascot of Planters that embodies the brands’ selling points. Mr. Peanut is depicted as a humanized peanut with arms, legs, top hat, and monocle and became a vessel of brand meaning and personality, taking on the product quality that the brand aims to communicate. Prior studies that use brand anthropomorphism as a foundation have investigated the impact of brand anthropomorphism on various outcomes such as product evaluations, emotional responses, and intentions to replace a product. However, what is missing from prior work is an understanding of the impact of brand anthropomorphism on the purchase intentions for clearance products which are sold under a retailer’s promotional strategy as an inventory management tool. The lure of cheapened goods may expand the range of consumers who can afford to buy merchandise from the company or may provide existing customers with an appealing purchasing option. In light of this, clearance sales are known to be effective not only for increasing store traffic by alluring price-conscious consumers but also for reducing excess inventory in a retail location or a chain of product fulfillment. The strategic importance of clearance sales has increased since the breakdown of COVID-19 which forced retailers to close their stores and caused demand for many product categories to plunge in early 2020. After the initial shock of the pandemic, consumer spending recovered fairly quickly, giving rise to record levels later in the same year. This surprising recovery continued into the next year as consumer sentiment and spending levels surged together, resulting in consumer demand that surpassed retailers’ stock levels. However, due to inflation and amounting fears of recession, consumer spending started to slow down again in 2022, resulting in the opposite of what happened in the previous year. Such a reversal caused many retailers to face high inventory levels and declining profitability, forcing them to cut prices to move excess inventory out of stores, which increases the importance of conducting clearance sales effectively. Clearance sales are prevalent in retail markets, where considerable discounts are typically offered for leftover items (Zhang & Cooper, 2008). Retailers widely use clearance sales to liquidate their unsold products at the end of a selling season (Nocke & Peitz, 2007). They have strong incentives to get rid of the remaining items in order to make room for the new products (Sällström, 2001). Previous research suggests that anthropomorphism leads consumers to apply human schema to a product, which in turn affects their attitude toward the product (Aggarwal & McGill, 2007, 2012). In this research, we aim to identify the negative effect of anthropomorphism on consumers’ attitude toward clearance products.

• Junhee Kim(California State University, Stanislaus)
• Saejoon Kim(California State University, Stanislaus)
• Jeonggyu Lee(Soongsil University)
• Sahrok Kim(California State University, Stanislaus)
• Eunjung Yoon(University of Mary Washington)
• Jae-Young Oh(Central Washington University)