IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/mktlet/v28y2017i4d10.1007_s11002-017-9430-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using sublexical priming to enhance brand name phonetic symbolism effects in young children

Author

Listed:
  • Stacey M. Baxter

    (The University of Newcastle)

  • Jasmina Ilicic

    (Monash University)

  • Alicia Kulczynski

    (The University of Newcastle)

  • Tina M. Lowrey

    (HEC Paris)

Abstract

We examine whether phonetic symbolism effects are conditional on the development of phonological awareness (an ability to recognize sounds in words). Further, we introduce sublexical priming as a means to enhance phonetic symbolism effects. Across four experiments, we demonstrate that product evaluations, consistent with phonetic symbolism theory, are more (less) likely when a child is older (younger). Specifically, older children who can recognize sounds in words perceive back vowel brand names (e.g., Vopoz) as slower, heavier, larger, smoother, creamier, chewier, and thicker than brand names with front vowel sounds (e.g., Vipiz). In addition, we show that phonetic symbolism effects manifest when younger children (low in phonological awareness) are primed to focus on parts of a word/s, which we term sublexical priming. We present embedded tasks and chunking of brand names as strategic communication techniques that can be implemented as sublexical primes to enhance phonetic symbolism effects in younger children.

Suggested Citation

  • Stacey M. Baxter & Jasmina Ilicic & Alicia Kulczynski & Tina M. Lowrey, 2017. "Using sublexical priming to enhance brand name phonetic symbolism effects in young children," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 565-577, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:28:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s11002-017-9430-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11002-017-9430-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11002-017-9430-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11002-017-9430-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Klink & Gerard Athaide, 2012. "Creating brand personality with brand names," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 109-117, March.
    2. Baxter, Stacey M. & Kulczynski, Alicia & Ilicic, Jasmina, 2014. "Revisiting the automaticity of phonetic symbolism effects," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 448-451.
    3. Stacey Baxter & Jasmina Ilicic & Alicia Kulczynski, 2015. "What’s in a name? Examining the effect of phonetic fit between spokesperson name and product attributes on source credibility," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 525-534, December.
    4. Baxter, Stacey & Lowrey, Tina, 2014. "Examining children's preference for phonetically manipulated brand names across two English accent groups," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 122-124.
    5. Tina M. Lowrey & L. J. Shrum, 2007. "Phonetic Symbolism and Brand Name Preference," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 34(3), pages 406-414, June.
    6. Keith S. Coulter & Robin A. Coulter, 2010. "Small Sounds, Big Deals: Phonetic Symbolism Effects in Pricing," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 315-328, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Leonhardt, James M. & Pechmann, Cornelia, 2021. "Is this product easy to control? Liabilities of using difficult-to-pronounce product names," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 90-102.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alicia Kulczynski & Stacey Brennan & Jasmina Ilicic, 2021. "A spokesperson with any name won’t be as charming: the phonetic effect of spokesperson name and gender on personality evaluations," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(2), pages 221-239, March.
    2. Daniel Kaimann & Clarissa Laura Maria Spiess Bru, 2023. "Sounds too Feminine? Brand Gender and The Impact on Professional Critics," Working Papers Dissertations 107, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    3. Stacey Baxter & Jasmina Ilicic & Alicia Kulczynski, 2015. "What’s in a name? Examining the effect of phonetic fit between spokesperson name and product attributes on source credibility," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 525-534, December.
    4. Richard R. Klink & Lan Wu, 2017. "Creating ethical brands: the role of brand name on consumer perceived ethicality," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 411-422, September.
    5. Abhishek Pathak & Carlos Velasco & Charles Spence, 2020. "The sound of branding: An analysis of the initial phonemes of popular brand names," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(3), pages 339-354, May.
    6. Lynch, John G. & Bradlow, Eric T. & Huber, Joel C. & Lehmann, Donald R., 2015. "Reflections on the replication corner: In praise of conceptual replications," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 333-342.
    7. Richard Klink & Lan Wu, 2014. "The role of position, type, and combination of sound symbolism imbeds in brand names," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 13-24, March.
    8. Jamel Khenfer & Caroline Cuny, 2021. "Comment communiquer l'action par la sonorité des noms de marques ?," Post-Print hal-03189334, HAL.
    9. Khenfer, Jamel & Cuny, Caroline, 2020. "Brand preference in the face of control loss and service failure: The role of the sound of brands," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    10. Jamel Khenfer & Caroline Cuny, 2021. "How to project action through the sound of brand names?," Post-Print hal-03189336, HAL.
    11. Jamel Khenfer & Caroline Cuny, 2021. "Comment communiquer l'action par la sonorité des noms de marques ?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-03189334, HAL.
    12. Baxter, Stacey & Lowrey, Tina, 2014. "Examining children's preference for phonetically manipulated brand names across two English accent groups," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 122-124.
    13. Baxter, Stacey M. & Kulczynski, Alicia & Ilicic, Jasmina, 2014. "Revisiting the automaticity of phonetic symbolism effects," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 448-451.
    14. Ruth Pogacar & Emily Plant & Laura Rosulek & Michal Kouril, 2015. "Sounds good: Phonetic sound patterns in top brand names," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 549-563, December.
    15. Jamel Khenfer & Caroline Cuny, 2021. "How to project action through the sound of brand names?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-03189336, HAL.
    16. Motoki, Kosuke & Park, Jaewoo & Pathak, Abhishek & Spence, Charles, 2022. "The connotative meanings of sound symbolism in brand names: A conceptual framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 365-373.
    17. Matthew Fisher & Milica Mormann, 2022. "The Off by 100% Bias: The Effects of Percentage Changes Greater than 100% on Magnitude Judgments and Consumer Choice [Numerosity and Consumer Behavior]," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 49(4), pages 561-573.
    18. George Doorn & Bryan Paton & Charles Spence, 2016. "Is J the new K? Initial letters and brand names," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(6), pages 666-678, November.
    19. Ketron, Seth & Spears, Nancy, 2021. "Sound-symbolic signaling of online retailer sizes: The moderating effect of shopping goals," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    20. Choi, Pilsik & Coulter, Keith S., 2012. "It's Not All Relative: The Effects of Mental and Physical Positioning of Comparative Prices on Absolute versus Relative Discount Assessment," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 512-527.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:28:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s11002-017-9430-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.