IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/mktlet/v29y2018i2d10.1007_s11002-018-9456-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Implicit and explicit preferences for brand name sounds

Author

Listed:
  • Ruth Pogacar

    (University of Calgary)

  • Michal Kouril

    (Cincinnati Children’s)

  • Thomas P. Carpenter

    (Seattle Pacific University)

  • James J. Kellaris

    (University of Cincinnati)

Abstract

This research shows that people implicitly and explicitly prefer sounds that are more common among top brand names (e.g., “S,” “M,” “L,” and “E”). Implicit preferences correlate with explicit willingness to pay more for hypothetical brands with preferred sounds. This suggests that the prevalence of certain sounds among top brands may be a reflection of people’s phonetic preferences. We examine possible processes underlying phonetic preferences, and offer evidence excluding phonetic embodiment, pronunciation-based fluency, and familiarity-based fluency. The results suggest a phonetic frequency process account. Substantively, these findings indicate that certain sounds should be given priority when crafting brand names.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruth Pogacar & Michal Kouril & Thomas P. Carpenter & James J. Kellaris, 2018. "Implicit and explicit preferences for brand name sounds," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 241-259, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:29:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11002-018-9456-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11002-018-9456-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11002-018-9456-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11002-018-9456-7?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, 2009. "Gender differences in new brand name response," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 313-326, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Schmitt, Bernd H & Pan, Yigang & Tavassoli, Nader T, 1994. "Language and Consumer Memory: The Impact of Linguistic Differences between Chinese and English," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(3), pages 419-431, December.
    4. William Revelle & Richard Zinbarg, 2009. "Coefficients Alpha, Beta, Omega, and the glb: Comments on Sijtsma," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 145-154, March.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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).
    5. Richard Klink & Gerard Athaide, 2012. "Creating brand personality with brand names," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 109-117, March.
    6. 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.
    7. Ketron, Seth & Spears, Nancy, 2019. "Sounds like a heuristic! Investigating the effect of sound-symbolic correspondences between store names and sizes on consumer willingness-to-pay," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 285-292.
    8. 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.
    9. Alina Duduciuc, 2015. "Advertising Brands By Means Of Sounds Symbolism: The Influence Of Vowels On Perceived Brand Characteristics," Studies and Scientific Researches. Economics Edition, "Vasile Alecsandri" University of Bacau, Faculty of Economic Sciences, issue 21.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. Motoki, Kosuke & Pathak, Abhishek, 2022. "Articulatory global branding: Generalizability, modulators, and mechanisms of the in-out effect in non-WEIRD consumers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 231-239.
    13. Anne-Catherine Guio & David Gordon & Eric Marlier & Hector Najera & Marco Pomati, 2018. "Towards an EU measure of child deprivation," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(3), pages 835-860, June.
    14. Gaetano Martino & Giulia Giacchè & Enrica Rossetti, 2016. "Organizing the Co-Production of Health and Environmental Values in Food Production: The Constitutional Processes in the Relationships between Italian Solidarity Purchasing Groups and Farmers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-22, March.
    15. Samuel Mayanja & Joseph M. Ntayi & John C. Munene & Waswa Balunywa & James R. K. Kagaari, 2021. "Informational differences and entrepreneurial networking among small and medium enterprises in Uganda," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 11(1), pages 563-577, December.
    16. 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.
    17. Sai-fu Fung & Esther Oi-wah Chow & Chau-kiu Cheung, 2020. "Development and Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of a Brief Wisdom Development Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-14, April.
    18. Sam S. S. Lau & Cherry C. Y. Ho & Rebecca C. K. Pang & Susan Su & Heather Kwok & Sai-fu Fung & Roger C. Ho, 2022. "COVID-19 Burnout Subject to the Dynamic Zero-COVID Policy in Hong Kong: Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the COVID-19 Burnout Frequency Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-13, July.
    19. Carmen León-Mantero & José Carlos Casas-Rosal & Alexander Maz-Machado & Miguel E Villarraga Rico, 2020. "Analysis of attitudinal components towards statistics among students from different academic degrees," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, January.
    20. Naiara Escalante Mateos & Eider Goñi Palacios & Arantza Fernández-Zabala & Iratxe Antonio-Agirre, 2020. "Internal Structure, Reliability and Invariance across Gender Using the Multidimensional School Climate Scale PACE-33," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-24, July.

    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:29:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11002-018-9456-7. 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.