Product anthropomorphism, a strategy commonly employed in marketing to humanize products and increase consumer engagement, may also have unintended negative consequences when products fail. Building on the expectancy violation theory, this study explores how anthropomorphism influences consumer satisfaction in the context of product failures, with a specific focus on the role of emotions. We conducted an online survey and a laboratory experiment featuring event-related potentials (ERPs). Study 1 offers initial evidence that anthropomorphic products result in lower satisfaction compared to non-anthropomorphic products when failures occur. Study 2 further shows that anthropomorphic features evoke early, automatic emotional processing, which subsequently leads to heightened and prolonged feelings of disappointment. These results emphasize the crucial role emotions play in driving consumer dissatisfaction in response to product failures involving anthropomorphic products. By illuminating the mechanisms underlying these consumer reactions, this research provides valuable insights into how marketers can better manage consumer expectations and minimize the negative effects of anthropomorphism. It offers practical guidance for the design and communication of anthropomorphic products to optimize consumer experience even in failure scenarios.
Product anthropomorphism, the practice of attributing human characteristics to products to create a more vivid and relatable product image by triggering human cognitive processes, has become a widespread strategy in marketing (Kim et al., 2016, Mueller et al., 2017, Huang et al., 2020). Marketers utilize anthropomorphism in various forms, such as incorporating humanized mascots or anthropomorphic animals in advertisements (e.g., M&M candies, Three Squirrels, Want Want), designing products with human-like features (e.g., the Coca-Cola bottle or Jean Paul Gaultier's perfume bottles shaped like the human body), or adding subtle human cues -- like eyes or mouths -- into product visuals.
The rise of e-commerce platforms has significantly contributed to the design and growing popularity of anthropomorphic products. However, this approach also carries risks (Hoffman and Novak, 2018, Dennis, 2024). Numerous studies have examined the potential negative impacts of anthropomorphism on consumer relationships, particularly in the context of adverse events such as brand or service failures (Puzakova et al., 2013, Choi et al., 2021). One line of research specifically addresses the risks associated with chatbot anthropomorphism during service failures, highlighting how it can result in consumer dissatisfaction and even anger (Crolic et al., 2022). Another stream of research has focused on product failures, specifically the anthropomorphism of brands and foods (Puzakova et al., 2013, Schroll, 2023). A common hypothesis within these work is that anthropomorphism elevates consumer expectations regarding a product's agency and performance, thereby intensifying disappointment when those expectations are unmet (Crolic et al., 2022).
Moreover, anthropomorphic features often cause consumers to attribute failures directly to the brand or product (Puzakova et al., 2013). As a result, much of the existing research on product or service failure has concentrated on understanding the negative effects of anthropomorphism from the perspective of consumer cognition, such as perceived capacity for pain (Schroll, 2023). However, there is limited exploration of implicit factors such as emotional responses (Pavone et al., 2022, Verhulst et al., 2025). While consumers may rationally assess a product failure based on observable criteria, their underlying emotional reactions are often swift, automatic (Walker, 2019), and profoundly influential in shaping their overall satisfaction and future behavior (Crolic et al., 2022). For instance, even when consumers recognize that a failure is not entirely due to the product's inherent qualities, the human-like features that initially fostered a connection may still trigger strong, unconscious emotional responses that intensify negative evaluations. These issues motivate the current exploration. Given that emotions are important in decision-making and can significantly shape consumer behavior (Andrade, 2005, Han et al., 2007, Lerner et al., 2015), a deeper understanding of these emotional reactions is necessary to comprehend the effects of product anthropomorphism in marketing contexts.
It is noteworthy that an individual's physiological responses -- such as emotion, attention, and cognition -- can be influenced by external cues like anthropomorphic features (Yin et al., 2024, Han et al., 2023). In high-stakes situations, such as product failures, these implicit emotional processes can determine whether a consumer ultimately forgives a brand or severs their relationship with it (Tsarenko and Tojib, 2012). Thus, analyzing the negative effects of anthropomorphism through a more comprehensive understanding of consumer responses can enhance our insight into the effective use of anthropomorphism in e-commerce. With the growing role of social media, the social influence of product failure has become increasingly significant. Nevertheless, due to a lack of effective measurement methods, many previous studies relying on traditional self-report techniques have focused only on consumer's explicit responses (e.g., consciously initiated cognition and emotion) (Fox et al., 2018), neglecting their unconscious emotional reactions. Consequently, this paper aims to address the following question: How does anthropomorphism affect consumer satisfaction in the context of product failure, and what role do emotions play?
To address the research question, we conducted both a survey and a laboratory experiment using event-related potentials (ERPs). Study 1 initially validate the interaction effect between product effect and anthropomorphism, showing that consumers are less satisfied with anthropomorphic products compared to their non-anthropomorphic counterparts, particularly in the context of product failure. Study 2 further explored the emotional responses driving this effect. Given the difficulty of measuring emotions directly through self-report methods (Gregor et al., 2014, Kuan et al., 2014), Study 2 employed ERPs to capture participants' brain responses. Such method can objectively identify emotional reactions as consumers process product information. Our results indicate that in product failure, anthropomorphism activates early automatic emotional processing, marked by increased P2 amplitudes. This, in turn, leads to prolonged disappointment in subsequent stages of processing. The convergence of these emotional responses ultimately renders anthropomorphic products less satisfying than non-anthropomorphic ones. This study underscores the pivotal role emotions play in consumer dissatisfaction with anthropomorphic products in failure contexts.
Our work advances two research streams. First, we supplement existing literature on product anthropomorphism by introducing implicit consumer emotions into the assessment of satisfaction in product failure scenarios. Previous studies have primarily focused on cognitive aspects, such as perceived capacity for pain (Schroll, 2023), with limited exploration of implicit emotions -- an essential factor in understanding the formation of decisions (Westbrook and Oliver, 1991). Second, this research adds to anthropomorphism theory by providing a deeper understanding of how consumers process negative information about anthropomorphic products. We show that both early automatic cognitive violations and later sustained negative emotional responses are implicit mechanisms that lead to greater consumer dissatisfaction following the failure of anthropomorphic products. Moreover, our findings offer practical guidance for retailers, suggesting that managing consumer expectations may mitigate the prolonged negative emotional impact of product anthropomorphism. In the following sections, we review key literature, develop our hypotheses, present two empirical studies, and discuss our findings and contributions.