Journal
JOURNAL OF MARKETING
Volume 85, Issue 6, Pages 101-117Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/0022242921993060
Keywords
brand attitude choice performance; brand gender; brand name; linguistics; stereotype content model
Categories
Funding
- University of Cincinnati Graduate School Dean's Fellowship
- Poe Family Distinguished Faculty Fellowship
- HEC Foundation of HEC Paris
- Investissements d'Avenir [ANR-11-IDEX-0003/Labex Ecodec/ANR-11-LABX-0047]
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The research suggests that the linguistic characteristics of a brand name can influence brand attitudes, choices, and performance, with a particular focus on the positive impact of feminine brand names on perceived warmth and overall brand outcomes.
A brand name's linguistic characteristics convey brand qualities independent of the name's denotative meaning. For instance, name length, sounds, and stress can signal masculine or feminine associations. This research examines the effects of such gender associations on three important brand outcomes: attitudes, choice, and performance. Across six studies, using both observational analyses of real brands and experimental manipulations of invented brands, the authors show that linguistically feminine names increase perceived warmth, which improves brand outcomes. Feminine brand names enhance attitudes and choice share-both hypothetically and consequentially-and are associated with better brand performance. The authors establish boundary conditions, showing that the feminine brand name advantage is attenuated when the typical user is male and when products are utilitarian.
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