Negative Brand Names

Abstract

We hear more and more often that positive things make our life more beautiful and make us more optimistic. But is it really true? If until a few years ago, the products had usual names, now it is desired for them to have a catchy name that would remain in the memory of the target audience. In this research I have analysed the attitude that young people have towards energy drinks with negative brand names, the impact of these energy drinks on them and also the influence they have on the decisional act of purchase. Among secondary objectives was the establishment of the notoriety of energy drinks that have negative names in the case of young people. Another secondary objective consisted in the comparative analysis of the impact that energy drinks with negative names have on men and women. Also, for the determination of the attitude that young people have towards energy drinks with negative names, it was necessary to get one at the time the feelings, the conviction offered by these energizers and also the intent of buying them among young people.

Affect‐based nonconscious signaling: When do consumers prefer negative branding?

“…Given these self‐evident assumptions, and if using negatively valenced words is ostensibly not a good strategy because they unconsciously activate a “repulsion” reaction from consumers, why do many successful brands in the marketplace employ negatively valenced branding (e.g., Affliction clothing, Fat Bastard wine, Urban Decay cosmetics, Garbage , and Poison perfume)? Here, “valenced” branding refers to the use of positive versus negative words or images to “brand” or represent products and elicit pleasant versus unpleasant emotions, hence approach versus avoidance from consumers, respectively (Frijda, 1986; Guest, Estes, Gibbert, & Mazursky, 2016; Manolică, Mititiuc, & Roman, 2018).…”

“…The current manuscript contributes to research investigating the function of brand names. We acknowledge recent consumer research investigating the influence of negative brands on memory and liking (Guest et al, 2016) and attitude toward the product (Manolică et al, 2018). However, our research differs from these findings because we identify the precipitating antecedent conditions and the underlying process that increases consumer preference for negative brands.…”