So hard to say goodbye? A study on the impact of anthropomorphism on the retention of idle products

Through five studies, we examined how anthropomorphic design influences consumer retention of idle products during the post-purchase disposal phase. We also explored the psychological dynamics underpinning this effect and assessed how different types of message appeal—altruistic versus egoistic—modulate these dynamics. Our findings demonstrate that consumers are more likely to retain idle products with anthropomorphic designs compared to their non-anthropomorphic counterparts, owing to the anticipated guilt associated with the disposal of products with human-like qualities. This guilt-driven retention is mitigated by altruistic message appeals but remains intact under egoistic appeals, which provides an idea for alleviating the negative impact of product anthropomorphism.