Does information about the underdog biography of company founders affect brand evaluations?

Many famous people who founded companies either recently or decades ago are associated with an underdog biography. Although they began with few resources and had to undertake strong efforts to overcome impediments, these companies are currently successful. We investigated whether references to the underdog biographies of company founders affected evaluations of these brands. We found an overall positive effect of referring to an underdog biography of founders in market communications. Our results indicate that the underdog effect results from sensations of deservingness and a strengthened customer-brand relationship.