What goes around comes around. Brands that spread positivity and empathy receive these traits back from their customers.

• New research from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School conducted by Professor Anshu Suri explores the correlation between warm brands and their product reviews.
• Warm brands might be brands that are compassionate, approachable, and take the initiative to be environmentally and societally ethical, such as Patagonia.
• Warm brands are more likely to receive positive and helpful feedback from customers about a bad experience with their product or service.

We live in a world where benevolence is highly valued.

Businesses that put being caring and friendly at the top of their priority list are more likely to be positively perceived by the public.

One way this can be done is by investing in societal and environmental initiatives.

In 2022, Patagonia entered a new dawn and joined the battle in protecting mankind’s future by charging head-on in combatting the climate crisis. “We’re making Earth our only shareholder. I am dead serious about saving this planet,” said Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia founder, former owner, and current board member.

Profits that aren’t reinvested back into Patagonia will be distributed by Patagonia to the Holdfast Collective to help protect biodiversity and support thriving communities. As a result, Patagonia ranked 1 out of 100 for reputation in the US in 2023, proving how influential brand warmth is.

Innocent Smoothies is another business that displays brand warmth and aims to be modest, a nod to its humble beginnings – it started out selling drinks at music festivals, before growing into the corporate giant we see today. 

From its logo and name to its media presence, Innocent Smoothies stays loyal to its messaging of positivity, transparency, and ethical ethos.

In 2014, Innocent Smoothies launched their ‘Taste Good Does It‘ campaign as a way to announce they were donating 10% of all profits to charity, showing that buying their products not only benefits their consumers but the world too. As Dave Pickup, Innocent UK’s managing director, puts it, “It tastes good, does good, does others good.”

Anshu Suri, Assistant Professor of Marketing from UCD Smurfit School, alongside colleagues from Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University and Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, sought to discover the full powers of warm brands.

Compassion breeds compassion

The qualities people like to see in brands are the qualities they like to see in people and in turn themselves. If someone treats them well, they’re likely to treat that person the same way – and this notion extends to businesses.

By analysing reports of harm incidents by car owners, Prof Suri found that a 1% increase in brand warmth is associated with a  27% increase in the number of reports a car brand receives after an incident. However, it also saw a 4% increase in helpful feedback compared to complaints.

Professor Suri says, “In the wake of a product-harm incident, a consumer will experience benevolence towards a warm brand, which drives them toward providing feedback and away from complaining.”

On the other hand, brands that have a more negative image such as Shein, the fast-fashion company that has made headlines for its use of unethical labour, plagiarism of smaller businesses, and poor environmental practices, are more likely to face less than savoury criticism from the public.

These individuals criticise not just Shein for its exploitation of Chinese works but the online content creators who choose to wear Shein’s clothes or accept sponsorships from Shein.

Building the bridge of connection

Professor Suri also investigated brands that responded to consumer reports. She found that if managers of warm brands acknowledged their consumers’ efforts in providing helpful feedback, then consumer satisfaction increased.

Personally connecting with customers makes them feel like their voice matters. This shows you’re open-minded, humble, and that you genuinely care about the customer experience.

Cassey Ho of Blogilates and Popflex is a popular content creator on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube who sells activewear and home gym equipment.

Her content primarily revolves around her creative process and how she designs her products.

She also often makes videos showcasing feedback in her comments section about issues people have with her products and what changes could be made to improve them.

Cassey Ho takes the opportunity to redesign her products and document this process to satisfy customer needs whilst cultivating a sense of community and warmth.

This has led to multiple of her products selling out and an average of 100 million views a month on YouTube Shorts.

Prof Suri’s findings suggest that businesses should focus on fine tuning their ‘brand personality’ to be as affable as possible. Companies who don’t invest in doing so will lose out and suffer after a negative incident, as consumers will punish a brand by complaining against it. 

By Sharmin Ahmed

Interested in this topic? You might like this…