Abstract: From the perspective of psychological distance and adult playfulness, this paper explores the relationship between brand personification and consumers’ cognition of warmth and competence. The empirical study of the student samples from three universities in Fujian province shows that: (1) brand personification has a significant positive influence on consumers’ cognition of warmth and competence; (2) psychological distance can play a partial intermediary role between brand personification and warmth and between brand personification and competence respectively; (3) adults playfulness can moderate the influence of brand personification on the warmth cognition, but this effect is not significant on the competence cognition. These research conclusions can provide useful management implications for the brand personification strategy of enterprises.

Key words: brand personification; psychological distance; adult playfulness; warmth; competence