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Decoding the premium: The effect of name fluency on NFT artwork valuation

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  • Kang, Sehwon
  • Oh, Hyelim

Abstract

This paper examines how the fluency of an NFT’s title affects its market valuation. Leveraging sales data from Damien Hirst’s renowned NFT collection, The Currency, we find a positive association between name fluency and NFT price. Tokens with higher name fluency, measured by shorter titles and simpler syntax, achieve significantly higher prices. These findings extend heuristic-based theories in finance and economics by demonstrating that fluent cues influence investors’ valuations in the emerging blockchain-empowered NFT markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Kang, Sehwon & Oh, Hyelim, 2025. "Decoding the premium: The effect of name fluency on NFT artwork valuation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:255:y:2025:i:c:s0165176525003775
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112540
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Montone, Maurizio & van den Assem, Martijn J. & Zwinkels, Remco C.J., 2023. "Company name fluency and stock returns," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
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    3. Chenjun Fang & Ning Zhu, 2019. "Name complexity, cognitive fluency, and asset prices," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(1), pages 168-196, January.
    4. Amin Mekacher & Alberto Bracci & Matthieu Nadini & Mauro Martino & Laura Alessandretti & Luca Maria Aiello & Andrea Baronchelli, 2022. "Heterogeneous rarity patterns drive price dynamics in NFT collections," Papers 2204.10243, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2022.
    5. Xia, Feilian & Thewissen, James & Shrestha, Prabal & Yan, Shuo, 2024. "The power of a name: Exploring the relationship between ICO name fluency and investor decision making," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    6. Alsultan, Sarah & Kourtis, Apostolos & Markellos, Raphael N., 2024. "Can we price beauty? Aesthetics and digital art markets," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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