From ugly to attractive: Leveraging anthropomorphism to increase demand for irregular-appearing produce

Recognizing that the waste of imperfect produce contributes to the global environmental crisis, the authors conduct three studies examining whether retailers can use anthropomorphizing marketing techniques to make irregular-appearing produce more attractive and increase purchase intentions. Based on the exemplar model theory, Study 1 shows that when retailers place googly eyes on pictures of irregular-appearing produce, consumers judge the product according to multiple exemplars as they do when they evaluate humans. The multiple esthetic cues cause them to perceive irregular produce as more attractive. Study 2 replicates Study 1 by using human names as the anthropomorphic cues, demonstrating that anthropomorphism can increase purchase intentions toward irregular-appearing produce. Study 3 further shows that the anthropomorphism effects hold for irregular-appearing produce from corporate farms and not from local farms. The differences occur because consumers expect corporate farms to conform to standardized esthetic norms but expect local farms to market irregular-appearing produce. When expectations are aligned, anthropomorphism is more likely to cause consumers to diversify esthetic cues, but not when expectations are disassociated. The article concludes with suggestions for promotion strategies that use anthropomorphizing to change attitudes and increase purchase intentions toward irregular-appearing produce.