Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Motoki, Kosuke
• Park, Jaewoo
• Pathak, Abhishek
• Spence, Charles

Titel

The connotative meanings of sound symbolism in brand names: A conceptual framework

Ist Teil von

• Journal of business research, 2022-11, Vol.150, p.365-373

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• •This study provides the first systematic review of sound symbolism in brand names.•The study identifies the connotative meanings associated with sound symbolism in brand names.•Higher-frequency sounds are associated with higher evaluation and lower potency.•Lower-frequency sounds are linked with lower evaluation and higher potency. Phonetic elements of brand names can convey a range of specific meanings. However, an integrated understanding of the sound symbolism of brand names remains elusive. Here, we classify sound symbolism in brand names based on three key dimensions of the semantic differential (evaluation, potency, and activity). In particular, we demonstrated that the sound symbolism of brand names can be explained in terms of the two dimensions of evaluation and potency (but not activity). The presence of higher-frequency sounds (front vowels, fricative, and voiceless consonants) in brand names tends to be associated with concepts linked to higher evaluation and lower potency, whereas lower-frequency sounds (back vowels, stop, and voiced consonants) tend to be more strongly associated with concepts linked to lower evaluation and higher potency. This study provides an integrative understanding of sound symbolism in brand names in terms of semantic differential meanings.