Effects of brand anthropomorphism on consumer-brand relationships on social networking site fan pages: The mediating role of social presence

•Brand anthropomorphism on social media enhances consumer-brand relationships.•Social presence mediates the effects of brand anthropomorphism on social media.•Favorable effects of brand anthropomorphism remain after a brand transgression. This study aimed to investigate the effects of brand anthropomorphism on consumer-brand relationships in a social media marketing context. We hypothesized that anthropomorphism on a brand’s Facebook fan page can strengthen the relationships between brands and consumers by yielding both social presence and a positive inference regarding the brand’s quality as a relationship partner. Our longitudinal experiment confirmed the effects of brand anthropomorphism on consumer-brand relationships on social media and the mediating role of social presence. The results suggest that when the anthropomorphized brand had relationships with consumers, a favorable attitude was shown toward the brand. Further, the participants perceived the anthropomorphized brand as a trustworthy relationship partner, giving more “Likes” for the posts from the anthropomorphized brand than those from the non-anthropomorphized brand. Further, the results confirmed that these favorable relationships were maintained even after the participants became aware of a brand transgression.