Brands as relationship partners: Warmth, competence, and in‐between
Open accessAbstract
The dialogue between social perception and consumer–brand relationship theories opens new opportunities for studying brands. To advance branding research in the spirit of interdisciplinary inquiry, we propose to (1) investigate the process of anthropomorphism through which brands are imbued with intentional agency; (2) integrate the role of consumers not only as perceivers but also as relationship agents; (3) consider important defining dimensions of consumer–brand relationships beyond warmth and competence, including power and excitement; and (4) articulate the dynamics governing warmth (intentions) and competency (ability) judgments to yield prescriptive guidance for developing popular and admired brands.
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Familiarity reflecting prior encounters with the same service or product indicates recognition of reliable information about the provider's services or products.
“Familiarity reflecting prior encounters with the same service or product indicates the recognition of reliable information about the provider's services or products [41,42].”
From Consumer Responses to Generative AI Chatbots Versus Search Engines for Product Evaluation (2025) · cites this paper as [41]
Cites
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“This work builds from a fundamental premise argued in Fournier (1998): that people in many ways relate to brands similarly to how they relate to people.”
BackgroundThe Ties That Bind: Measuring the Strength of Consumers’ Emotional Attachments to Brands
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“Consumers become emotionally attached to brands they love (Albert et al., 2008; Batra et al., 2012; Shimp & Madden, 1988; Thomson et al., 2005).”
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Novak, T. P., & Hoffman, D. L. (2019) · Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · doi:10.1007/s11747-018-0608-3 · Cited by 332 · see citing works
Hayes, J. L., Brinson, N. H., Bott, G. J., & Moeller, C. M. (2021) · Journal of Interactive Marketing · doi:10.1016/j.intmar.2021.01.001 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Consumer Responses to Generative AI Chatbots Versus Search Engines for Product Evaluation
Kim, S., & Priluck, R. (2025) · Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research · doi:10.3390/jtaer20020093 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“Familiarity reflecting prior encounters with the same service or product indicates the recognition of reliable information about the provider’s services or products [41,42].”
- Authors
- Fournier, S., & Alvarez, C.
- Affiliations
- Boston University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Fournier, Susan
- Venue
- Journal of Consumer Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2012-03-03
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 177-185
- ISSN
- 1057-7408 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7663
- OpenAlex
- W3121988901
- Cited by
- 385
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 22.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Consumer Psychology (publishedVersion)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Marketing and Advertising Strategies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
- Keywords
- consumer-brand relationships, brand warmth, brand competence, anthropomorphism, brand agency, social perception, power, excitement, brand building
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