Brand anthropomorphisation and brand voice: the role of the name-brand voice assistant

The name-brand voice assistant (NBVA), allowing the brand to dialogue directly with consumers by its brand name and its brand voice, could theoretically activate the brand anthropomorphism perception in the consumer’s mind. Despite the growing use of NBVAs and the theoretical possibility to recognise important branding implications, the role that companies can assign to NBVAs in the context of brand strategies has not yet been addressed by marketing scholars. Therefore, the objective of our work is to begin to fill this gap by investigating the role that the NBVA might have in the brand anthro-pomorphisation strategy, adopting the managerial perspective. To this end, we have conducted qualitative research based on a single in-depth case study, the first in-car NBVA to be release in the international market.