If Doughnuts Could Talk They'd Tell You To Take The Elevator Instead Of The Stairs

No. They would tell you to "Eat me."

Humanizing a brand can influence consumer behavior in a healthy or unhealthy direction - depending on how they envision the brand, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research...

The authors conducted three laboratory studies where they asked half of the participants to imagine well-known brands as coming to life as a person (anthropomorphizing). Other participants were not instructed to think about brands in human terms. Anthropomorphizing participants considered some brands to be partners (working along with the consumers to achieve benefits) and others to be servants (the brand did work on behalf of the consumer).

After thinking about Kellogg's or Krispy Kreme, participants were asked to do a second study where they were asked about day-to-day judgments. They were asked if they would take the stairs (healthy behavior) or the elevator (less healthy behavior) in their building. "Those who had earlier been thinking about a humanized Kellogg were more likely to take the stairs, consistent with the Kellogg's image, but those thinking about Krispy Kreme were more likely to take the elevator, consistent with the Krispy Kreme image, provided they liked the brand," the authors write.

And people do.