How to project action through the sound of brand names? (original) (raw)
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A Sound Idea: Phonetic Effects of Brand Names on Consumer Judgments
Journal of Consumer Research, 2004
In this article we examine a phenomenon known as sound symbolism, where the sound of a word conveys meanings. Specifically, brand names are composed of individual sounds called phonemes and we investigate how this phonetic structure of brand names affects a consumer's evaluation of products and their underlying attributes. We demonstrate that consumers use information they gather from phonemes in brand names to infer product attributes and to evaluate brands. We also demonstrate that the manner in which phonetic effects of brand names manifest is automatic in as much as it is uncontrollable, outside awareness and effortless.
What's in and what's out in branding? A novel articulation effect for brand names
Frontiers in Psychology, 2015
The present approach exploits the biomechanical connection between articulation and ingestion-related mouth movements to introduce a novel psychological principle of brand name design. We constructed brand names for diverse products with consonantal stricture spots either from the front to the rear of the mouth, thus inwards (e.g., BODIKA), or from the rear to the front, thus outwards (e.g., KODIBA). These muscle dynamics resemble the oral kinematics during either ingestion (inwards), which feels positive, or expectoration (outwards), which feels negative. In 7 experiments (total N = 1261), participants liked products with inward names more than products with outward names (Experiment 1), reported higher purchase intentions (Experiment 2), and higher willingness-to-pay (Experiments 3a-3c, 4, 5), with the price gain amounting to 4-13% of the average estimated product value. These effects occurred across English and German language, under silent reading, for both edible and non-edible products, and even in the presence of a much stronger price determinant, namely fair-trade production (Experiment 5).
Brand Naming: Sound Symbolism, Brand Preference and Brand Performance
2016
The aim of this study is to highlight the importance of sound symbolism for Romanian marketing and advertising applied research. Previous research showed that the phonetic structure of brand name communicates its characteristics, i.e. it drives consumers to assess certain features and performance of the product. We assumed that when consumers encounter an unknown brand name, they automatically infer characteristics from the meaning conveyed by the sounds (e.g. phonemes). Therefore, we supposed that a brand name for a shampoo (artificially created on experimental purpose) containing back vowels is evaluated better by consumers when they compare it to another brand name with front vowels. Furthermore, we tested the influence of the stops and fricatives consonants in inferring certain attributes of product. To this end, fifty nine students (N=59) participated in a research based on questionnaire. The results revealed that subjects evaluated better the brand names containing back vowels...
Phonetic Symbolism and Brand Name Preference
Journal of Consumer Research, 2007
Two experiments investigated the effects of phonetic symbolism on brand name preference. Participants indicated preference for fictitious brand names for particular products (or for products with particular attributes) from word pairs that differed only on vowel sound (e.g., front vs. back vowels, or vowel sounds associated with positive vs. negative concepts). Participants preferred brand names more when the attributes connoted by the vowel sounds (e.g., small, sharp) were positive for a product category (e.g., convertible, knife), but they preferred the same names less when the attributes connoted were negative for a product category (e.g., sport utility vehicle, hammer). However, words with negative vowel sounds were least preferred regardless of product category or attribute.
Psychology & Marketing, 2020
The established preference for words featuring consonants ordered inward in the oral cavity-the in-out effect, may assist marketeers when naming new products and services. To investigate the conditions under which this effect may affect consumer preference we conducted four experiments (N=818) examining the influence of consonant wanderings in the evaluation of different professionals and food products. While inward articulation direction selectively biased warmth judgments about workers who are perceived as relatively neutral on both warmth and competence, for professionals traditionally associated with either a warmth or a competence dimension inward-wandering usernames systematically presented a competitive advantage. In the same way, hypothetical food products with inward-wandering names were judged as more hedonic and more utilitarian. The present evidence supports the potential of the in-out effect to market products and services and highlights the relevance of exploiting this and other oral kinematics phenomena as an asset for managerial practice.
Sound symbolism effects across languages: Implications for global brand names
International Journal of Research in Marketing, 2012
Selecting good brand names for products is a critical step for marketers, and many aspects of a brand name influence brand perceptions. Three experiments investigated the effects of phonetic symbolism (the impact of sound on meaning) on brand name preference, the extent to which these effects generalize to other languages, and the processes that underlie these effects. When choosing brand names, French-, Spanish-, and Chinese-speaking participants who were bilingual in English preferred words in which there was a match between the phonetic symbolism of the words and the product attributes. These results were unaffected by whether participants completed the study in their first or second language, by second-language proficiency, or by whether the Chinese language representations were in logographic or alphabetic form. These findings replicate those of and indicate that phonetic symbolism effects for brand name perceptions can generalize across languages, and thus suggest that marketers may be able to embed universal meaning in their brand names.
Intel and Nokia's success in sound branding encouraged followers to implement this branding strategy. This study aims to explore the effects of sound stimuli applied in branding. A questionnaire survey was conducted to measure consumers' perception towards sound stimuli, and its influence towards brand preference. Consumers' perception towards sound stimuli is further examined to identify its influences on attitude towards the brand, brand awareness with brand association, and qualitative perception. Brand loyalty and preference are confirmed to have consequential influences from the antecedents: attitude towards the brand, brand awareness with brand association, and qualitative perception. Findings of this study suggest that sound trademarks should be carefully selected and designed to help consumers remember the brand and elicit positive awareness, association, attitude and perception. In contrast, slogan-alone sound trademarks, especially those with ambiguous meaning slogans, may lead to negative attitudes and preferences.
Syllable Variation Impact on Brand Name Preference
International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation
The current body of research in the language of advertising deals with the nature of segments, vowel quality, consonants, and vowel voicing, yet relatively little is understood about the impact of syllables on participants' behavior. This paper investigates syllable variation in brand names on customers' preferences in the language of advertising. A correlational-exploratory research design has been adopted. The instrument used to collect data was a questionnaire containing 40 fictitious brand names organized in two lists of 10 pairs. The first 10 pairs varied in terms of syllable type (open/ closed syllable), while the second 10 pairs varied in terms of syllable number (monosyllabic and disyllabic/ multisyllabic. The Participants were asked to choose from the first and second 10 pairs. Based on their responses, I calculated the Phi correlation coefficient (rφ) to determine the correlation between variations at the syllabic level and brand name preference. The results reveal...