Examination of pet imagery in digital marketing communications: understanding if and when pets can be effective endorsers

Abstract

Animals, and pets in particular, are prevalent in consumers’ lives, as well as in marketing communications. Yet, despite the important roles they play in our society, the marketing literature remains scarce and crucial questions are still to be answered. Are pets effective endorsers? Can they be more effective than human endorsers? Are there certain circumstances under which they might be more or less effective? This research aims to start answering these questions. Adopting a positivist stance, and through one qualitative exploratory study and three experimental papers (including seven experiments and two field studies), this research explores pet endorsements in the digital environment, with the first two papers exploring pets as social media influencers (SMIs), whereas the last paper examines generic pet images used in marketing communications (not from SMIs). While the exploratory study helps to confirm which areas mentioned in the literature are worth exploring, Paper One finds that pet social media influencers, also known as petfluencers, can be more effective than their human counterparts in driving positive consumer responses such as social media engagement and willingness to pay (WTP) because they are perceived as more sincere. Petfluencers’ sincerity can be further manipulated through the type of photos they post on their social media profiles, increasing their effectiveness for consumers who are less likely to respond positively to their content, such as individuals with a low propensity to anthropomorphise. Paper Two supports that overall, pets are more persuasive (i.e., increase purchase intentions) when endorsing congruent products (i.e., products that they can use or ‘fit’ with the pet endorser) rather than incongruent products. This is because congruent information attracts greater consumer attention in digital environments where clearer and simpler information is more effective. However, inducing immersion through a more vivid background can mitigate the negative consequence of product incongruence and increase the effectiveness of incongruent pet ads. Paper Three shows that including the image of a pet in an apology message following a service failure results in better outcomes, such as increased repurchase intentions and customer service ratings, and decreased intention to engage in negative word-of-mouth (nWOM). Apologies including a pet picture increase the perceptions of warmth towards the brand, without reducing its competence perceptions. However, the effect only holds when the service failure is minor, not when it is major. The findings provide novel theoretical contributions to the marketing literature on pets, influencer marketing, congruence, and service recovery. It also offers actionable recommendations for marketers.