Phonetic Symbolism and Memory for Advertisements

Abstract

This study investigated whether phonetic symbolism within brand names influences the memory of advertisements. Participants both saw and heard brand names with front vs. back vowels paired with small vs. large products in a congruent vs. incongruent fashion. When later given several unexpected memory tasks, it was found that congruent (vs. incongruent) pairings led to enhanced brand name and product recall as well as the efficiency of both brand name and paired recognition. These findings are consistent with a theory of cross-modal processing involving perceptual unification.

Sound symbolism and theoretical phonology

“…There is an increasing body of work that seeks to deploy sound symbolism in the context of marketing. Their general finding is that there are sounds that are “suitable” to convey particular images for brand products; such names that make sound symbolic sense are judged to be better, and possibly better remembered, by potential customers (Bolts, Mangigian, & Allen, 2016; Coulter & Coulter, 2010; Jurafsky, 2014; Klink, 2000; Peterson & Ross, 1972; Yorkston & Menon, 2004). This line of research has opened up a new domain of interdisciplinary research.…”

Linguistic and Cultural Analysis of Advertising: How Ideologies and Language Shape Consumer Perception

“…Phonetic symbolism is a major point of interest in advertising (Boltz et al, 2016(Boltz et al, , pp. 1088(Boltz et al, -1092.…”

“…43-51). Additionally, there is evidence that phonetic symbolism also influences how memorable brand names are (Boltz et al, 2016(Boltz et al, , pp. 1088(Boltz et al, -1092.…”