'…But the name will never be forgotten' (Eine Bestandsaufnahme der Psychologie des Markennamens)

Abstract

The present article provides an overview of empirical research concerning the brand name as an integral component of the brand image that can be regarded to be of pivotal importance for a company’s marketing activities. After a short outline of effects of a brand name on consumption activities and the consumer himself we provide short explanations of key concepts followed by a review of empirical findings concerning brand names together with practical implications for brand name design. By doing so, we focus on brand names’ conciseness, distinctiveness, and meaningfulness as well as the consequences of these aspects on perception, impression, evaluation, learning, and retrieval of brand names. Semantic and phonetic aspects of brand name design are extensively discussed. We conclude that an integration of the presented recommendations with target group market research as well as the general marketing strategy is recommendable to develop an ideal brand name.

Note: Downloadable document is in German

JEL Classification: M37