ADVERTISING BRANDS BY MEANS OF SOUNDS SYMBOLISM: THE INFLUENCE OF VOWELS ON PERCEIVED BRAND CHARACTERISTICS

Authors

  • Alina Catalina Duduciuc National University of Political Studies and Public Administration Faculty of Communciation and Public Relations

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29358/sceco.v0i21.304

Keywords:

brand name, sound symbolism, advertising, social psychology, semantic differential

Abstract

The aim of this study is to test the influence of sound symbolism on perceived characteristics of a brand as well as to highlight the importance of applied social psychology to current practice of advertising. Previous research showed that the phonetic structure of brand name communicates its characteristics, i.e. it drives consumers to assess certain features and performance of the product. I assumed that when consumers encounter an unknown brand name, they automatically infer characteristics from the meaning conveyed by the sounds (e.g. phonemes). Therefore, I supposed that a brand name for a shampoo (artificially created on experimental purpose) containing back vowel is evaluated better by consumers when they compare it to another brand name with front vowels. Furthermore, for the accuracy of responses, I used the semantic differential scale to measure the differences between two brands in terms of certain attributes of product. To this end, fifty students (N=50) participated in a research based on questionnaire. As the results of the current research showed, the brand name with back vowel outnumbered the brand name with front vowel on two dimension, i.e. on brand activity and brand efficiency. The brand name containing front vowel was rated better when subjects evaluated the product in generally. Last, but not least, when it comes to convey meanings, the sound of back vowels [a] could be used more when marketers promote products that communicate its characteristics such as efficiency, velocity and health. The back vowel could be also assessed to products with larger packing or special sailing such as extra quantity. Meanwhile, the brand names with front vowels [ie] could be created for more expensive products with good quality, mainly addressed to men.

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Author Biography

  • Alina Catalina Duduciuc, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration Faculty of Communciation and Public Relations

    Alina Duduciuc, PhD, is currently lecturer and postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Communication and Public Relations within the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, where she teaches Social Psychology and Social Psychology of Advertising at BA and MA levels. Since she has received her PhD in Sociology at the University of Bucharest (2010), her research interests revolve around analyzing the way different age groups use and adopt information and communication technologies (ICTs). She is also intersted in social psychology applied to advertising. Recent books: [Duduciuc, A., Ivan, L., Chelcea, S. (2013). Social Psychology: The Study Human Interactions; Duduciuc, A. (2012). Sociology of Fashion: Clothing Style and Social Desirability; Ivan, L. & Duduciuc. A. (2011) (eds.). Nonverbal Communication and Social Construction

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Published

19.07.2015

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Duduciuc, A. C. (2015). ADVERTISING BRANDS BY MEANS OF SOUNDS SYMBOLISM: THE INFLUENCE OF VOWELS ON PERCEIVED BRAND CHARACTERISTICS. Studies and Scientific Researches. Economics Edition, 21. https://doi.org/10.29358/sceco.v0i21.304