Abstract

Brands regularly express gratitude to groups such as first responders, medical personnel, and teachers (i.e., third-party others). However, research investigating the effectiveness of these acknowledgments is lacking. Drawing from the gratitude, branding, and persuasion knowledge literature, we theorize that consumer reactions to advertised gratitude expressions to third-party others depend upon brand positioning, operationalized through brand personality. We empirically demonstrate that when exciting brands express gratitude to third-party others, such expressions reduce purchase intentions relative to advertisements not conveying gratitude or conveying gratitude to customers. As sincere brands are aligned with gratitude, gratitude expressions do not negatively affect purchase intentions. Consumer inferences of manipulative intent explain why gratitude expressions to third-party others lead to adverse effects for exciting but not sincere brands. Our findings signify that advertised gratitude expressions to third-party others need to be managed carefully, as brand personality plays a significant role in consumers’ interpretations of such acknowledgments.

摘要

品牌定期向急救人员、医务人员和教师（即第三方其他人）等群体表示感谢。但是，缺乏调查这些确认的有效性的研究。从感恩、品牌和说服知识文献中得出结论，消费者对广告中对第三方其他人的感谢表达的反应取决于品牌定位，并通过品牌个性进行操作。我们凭经验证明，当令人兴奋的品牌向第三方其他人表示感谢时，这种表达方式会降低与不向客户表达感谢或向客户表达感谢的广告相关的购买意愿。由于真诚的品牌与感恩相一致，感恩的表达不会对购买意愿产生负面影响。消费者对操纵意图的推断解释了为什么对第三方其他人的感激表达会对令人兴奋但不真诚的品牌产生不利影响。我们的研究结果表明，广告中对第三方的感谢表达需要谨慎管理，因为品牌个性在消费者对此类致谢的解释中起着重要作用。