Maintaining Warm, Trusting Relationships with Brands: Increased Temperature Perceptions after Thinking of Communal Brands

Posted: 29 Jan 2014 Last revised: 15 Mar 2015

See all articles by Hans IJzerman

Hans IJzerman

Université Grenoble Alpes

Janneke Janssen

Tilburg University

James Coan

University of Virginia - Psychology

Date Written: January 27, 2014

Abstract

Classical theories on interpersonal relations have long suggested that social interactions are influenced by sensation, like the experience of warmth. Past empirical work suggests that perceived differences in temperature impact how people form thoughts about relationships. The present work first integrates our knowledge database on brand research with that of the “grounded cognition” literature on social interactions. It then leverages a large sample (total N = 2,552) toward elucidating links between estimates of temperature and positive versus negative evaluations of communal brands. In five studies, the authors find that thinking about positively (vs. negatively) perceived communal brands leads to heightened temperature estimates. A meta-analysis of the five studies shows a small but consistent effect in this noisy environment, r = .11, 95% CI, .05, .18. Exploratory analyses in Studies 1a and b further suggest that temperature perceptions mediate the (significant) relationship between perceived communality and likelihood to purchase from the brand. The authors discuss implications for theory and practice, and consider the effects from a Social Baseline Perspective.

Keywords: embodied cognition, brands, temperature perception, consumer science

Suggested Citation

IJzerman, Hans and Janssen, Janneke and Coan, James, Maintaining Warm, Trusting Relationships with Brands: Increased Temperature Perceptions after Thinking of Communal Brands (January 27, 2014). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2386029 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2386029

Hans IJzerman (Contact Author)

Université Grenoble Alpes ( email )

Grenoble
France

Janneke Janssen

Tilburg University ( email )

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, DC Noord-Brabant 5000 LE
Netherlands

James Coan

University of Virginia - Psychology ( email )

United States

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