Restaurant-visit intention: do anthropomorphic cues, brand awareness and subjective social class interact?
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
ISSN: 0959-6119
Article publication date: 7 April 2022
Issue publication date: 19 May 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Given the increasing need after the outbreak of COVID-19 to encourage restaurant customers to dine in, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effects that anthropomorphic cues jointly with brand awareness and subjective social class have on restaurant-visit intention.
Design/methodology/approach
To better comprehend the use of anthropomorphic cues, this paper involved two studies that used two types of anthropomorphic cues: (1) non-food (a spoon) and (2) food ingredients. For each study, a 2 × 2 mixed factorial design was used.
Findings
Using three-way mixed ANOVAs, the results from Study 1 confirmed that adding anthropomorphic cues to a non-food object (a spoon) could induce positive effects for restaurants with lower brand awareness, especially among individuals with low subjective social class. In contrast, Study 2 showed that adding anthropomorphic cues to a food ingredient (e.g. tomato, lettuce and olive) had a weaker effect on restaurants with high brand awareness, especially among individuals with a high subjective social class.
Practical implications
Marketers should use anthropomorphism strategies based on their target customers, especially if their brand is less popular.
Originality/value
Using the theoretical framework from the elaboration likelihood model, this paper contributes to the anthropomorphism literature by showing how an anthropomorphized image that fits an individual’s interests could trigger a careful thinking process that leads to differential behaviors based on brand awareness.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Citation
Kim, H. and Jang, S.(S). (2022), "Restaurant-visit intention: do anthropomorphic cues, brand awareness and subjective social class interact?", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 34 No. 6, pp. 2359-2378. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-09-2021-1185
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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