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Marketing Letters
Published in: Marketing Letters 4/2015

01-12-2015

Sounds good: Phonetic sound patterns in top brand names

Authors: Ruth Pogacar, Emily Plant, Laura Felton Rosulek, Michal Kouril

Published in: Marketing Letters | Issue 4/2015

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Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that brand name sounds can influence consumer behavior. Sound symbolism, the link between sound and meaning, can convey product information, enhance affinity, and increase purchase intentions. This study examines sound patterns of Interbrand top 100 brand names, including three previously unexamined sound categories. Results show that top brand names have different sound patterns than general brand names. The pattern of differences suggests that sound symbolism may be one factor contributing to brand performance. Sounds more frequent among top brand names have potentially brand enhancing properties, while sounds less frequent may have the opposite effect. These findings should inform best naming practices and strategies.
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Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Footnotes
1
We use the 95 million words COCA magazine database which references almost 100 popular magazines such as Time, Men’s Health, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, and Sports Illustrated for the years 1990–2012 (Davies 2008). The database draws from publications in a wide variety of domains such as news, health, home and gardening, women's, financial, religion, and sports, resulting in a balanced portrayal of the English language.
 
2
The coding of these brand names and the benchmark dataset is available from the first author upon request.
 
3
One brand name (Gap) was discarded because its frequency could not be determined since it is indistinguishable from the common noun “gap.”
 
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Metadata
Title
Sounds good: Phonetic sound patterns in top brand names
Authors
Ruth Pogacar
Emily Plant
Laura Felton Rosulek
Michal Kouril
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Marketing Letters / Issue 4/2015
Print ISSN: 0923-0645
Electronic ISSN: 1573-059X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-014-9288-z

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