Abstract: As a new marketing trend, lots of marketers try to anthropomorphize the brand as a partner or servant to consumer. However, the risk of it is seldom considered, nor is academically studied. This study focuses on the “servant” and “partner” brand in the face of brand failure crisis. We discuss their different performance in consumers' reaction and the internal mechanism. Two experiments are conducted to test the hypotheses and the findings are as follows. Firstly, consumers give more competence-based trust to partner brand, while more integrity-based trust to servant brand. Secondly, when brands are trapped in competence-related failures, compared with servant brands, partner brands make consumers perceive stronger betrayal and show more negative attitude. When brands have integrity-related failures, servant brands make consumers perceive stronger betrayal and show more negative attitude than partner brands. Thirdly, when brands fall into competence-related failures, compared with servant brand, apologies work better for partner brand. This paper enriches theory of brand anthropomorphism and brand relationship, as well as offers new materials for studies in brand failures and failure response field. In addition, this paper provides some marketing suggestions for brand management.

Key words: brand relationship, brand anthropomorphism, brand failure, servant, partner