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Marketing Language: A Conceptual Framework and Examination of How Brand Name Linguistics Influence Brand Loyalty

Pogacar, Ruth
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15302704284269

Abstract Details

2018, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Business: Business Administration.
People—be they politicians, marketers, job candidates, product reviewers, bloggers, or romantic interests—often use linguistic devices to persuade others, and there is a sizeable literature that has documented the effects of numerous linguistic devices. However, understanding the implications of these effects is difficult without an organizing framework. To this end, I introduce a Language Complexity × Processing Mode Framework for classifying linguistic devices based on two continuous dimensions: language complexity, ranging from simple to complex, and processing mode, ranging from automatic to controlled. I then use the framework as a basis for reviewing and synthesizing extant research on the effects of the linguistic devices on persuasion, determining the conditions under which the effectiveness of the linguistic devices can be maximized, and reconciling inconsistencies in prior research. Brand names can communicate brand gender, and feminine brand gender increases perceived warmth, which in turn increases brand loyalty. Therefore, longer names that end in a vowel (e.g., Burberry) sound both more feminine and more warm than shorter names that end in a consonant (e.g., Ford). Using both experimental manipulation of hypothetical brands and observational analysis of real brands, this research shows that people feel more loyal toward brands with feminine names, predict that feminine sounding brands are more likely to be top performers than parallel masculine sounding names, and this expectation bears out in the marketplace, where top brands have more feminine names than less successful brands. A feminine brand name is even more beneficial for hedonic, relative to utilitarian, products. However, the advantage for feminine names is neutralized when the typical user of a product is male, and masculine brand names are preferred when warmth is not a desirable product attribute.
Frank Kardes, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Chung-Yiu Peter Chiu, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
James Kellaris, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Tina Lowrey, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
L. Shrum, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
112 p.
Marketing
Linguistics; Marketing

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Pogacar, R. (2018). Marketing Language: A Conceptual Framework and Examination of How Brand Name Linguistics Influence Brand Loyalty [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15302704284269

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Pogacar, Ruth. Marketing Language: A Conceptual Framework and Examination of How Brand Name Linguistics Influence Brand Loyalty. 2018. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15302704284269.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Pogacar, Ruth. "Marketing Language: A Conceptual Framework and Examination of How Brand Name Linguistics Influence Brand Loyalty." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15302704284269

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin15302704284269
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© 2018, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12