Too Exciting to Care? When Expressing Gratitude Is a Detriment to the Brand

Brands regularly express gratitude to groups such as first responders, medical personnel, and teachers (i.e., third-party others). However, research investigating the effectiveness of these acknowledgments is lacking. Drawing from the gratitude, branding, and persuasion knowledge literature, we theorize that consumer reactions to advertised gratitude expressions to third-party others depend upon brand positioning, operationalized through brand personality. We empirically demonstrate that when exciting brands express gratitude to third-party others, such expressions reduce purchase intentions relative to advertisements not conveying gratitude or conveying gratitude to customers. As sincere brands are aligned with gratitude, gratitude expressions do not negatively affect purchase intentions. Consumer inferences of manipulative intent explain why gratitude expressions to third-party others lead to adverse effects for exciting but not sincere brands. Our findings signify that advertised gratitude expressions to third-party others need to be managed carefully, as brand personality plays a significant role in consumers' interpretations of such acknowledgments.