Some like it warm: How warm brands mitigate the negative effects of social exclusion

Abstract Consumers' feelings of being excluded—which indicate a deficit in important social resources such as connection, acceptance, and support—have increased over the last 50 years. In this research, by adopting a resource‐based view of brands, we examine how and why brands play a role in socially excluded consumers' lives. Across a series of studies, we find that excluded consumers perceive warm (vs. less warm) brands as better relationship partners. Because of this, excluded consumers choose warm (vs. less warm) brands more often, and they feel less lonely as a result. We also test the role of brand warmth relative to brand competence and to individual differences in self‐acceptance. We find that excluded consumers' preferences for warm brands persist even when the warm brands are low in competence and even when consumers possess high self‐acceptance. This research reveals the relational, resource‐restorative role of warm brands and provides implications for consumers' coping and emotional well‐being in our increasingly isolated society.