Phonetic Similarity in Brand Name Innovation

When developing a new brand name, similarity of the new brand name to an existing brand name may affect perceptions of the new brand name. However, marketers typically have little guidance on the optimal level of similarity versus originality. Based on linguistic theory, we develop a method to determine this optimal level. In four experiments, we examine the phonetic similarity of a company’s new brand names to the company’s original brand name, implementing a highly controlled methodology based on linguistic rules. When pre-existing attitudes towards a company are positive, an inverted U-shaped pattern is observed in brand name attitudes, such that moderate levels of phonetic similarity are preferred over closer or more distant levels of phonetic similarity. When pre-existing attitudes towards a company are negative, an opposite, U-shaped pattern is observed, such that moderate levels of phonetic similarity are less preferred over closer or more distant levels of phonetic similarity. However, when there are no pre-existing attitudes towards the company, a direct, linear relation between phonetic similarity and attitudes is observed, such that close levels are preferred over moderate levels which, in turn, are preferred over distant levels, consistent with a simple familiarity effect on brand name attitudes.Brand Names, Linguistics, Attitudes

Do more, say less: Saying I love you in Chinese and American Cultures

Reticence to express emotions verbally has long been observed in Chinese culture, but quantitative comparisons with Western cultures are few. Explanations for emotional reticence have typically focused on the need in collectivist culture to promote group harmony, but this explanation is most applicable to negative emotions such as anger, not positive expressions such as Wo ai ni [I love you]. A survey on verbal usage of Wo ai ni was administered to university students in Beijing and Shanghai, and compared to uses of I love you by American students in the United States. Chinese respondents were not only overall more reticent than Americans in their love expressions, but differed from Americans in avoiding I love you expressions with family (especially parents). Interviews revealed that Chinese and American students, the two groups endorsed different reasons for saying Wo ai nil I love you. The reasons Americans provided most often related to the inherent importance of saying I love you, while this was the least frequently mentioned reason by Chinese. Bicultural Chinese interviewees observed that one could perform nonverbal actions or even say English I love you as substitutions for saying Wo ai ni. Chinese survey respondents did not endorse these options, and instead consistently minimized both verbal and nonverbal love expressions. The pattern of responses is consistent with theoretical proposals about high vs. low context cultures, especially with regards to the usefulness of saying I love you for relationship management purposes, and for asserting (or avoiding) statements of one\u27s individual autonomy

Aesthetically (Dis)Pleasing Visuals: A Dual Pathway to Empathy and Prosocial Behavior

This research investigates how the combination of aesthetically appealing and unappealing visual elements in marketing communications can motivate prosocial behavior. Prior literature has investigated the effectiveness of aesthetically pleasing or displeasing visuals separately and has reported mixed results. Based on the notion that empathy is a key driver of prosocial behavior, the current work first makes a theoretical distinction between two antecedents of empathy—identification and perceived need—and then illustrates how these antecedents are evoked by pleasing and displeasing visual elements, respectively. The authors show that the combination of a pleasing individual (human or object) and a displeasing group is particularly effective in evoking identification and perceived need, and therefore empathy. The elevated empathy, in turn, motivates prosocial behavior. Five main experiments in the field, lab, and online, as well as a pre-study and two post-studies, provide supportive empirical evidence. Implications for theory and practice are discussed

Still waters run deep:Comparing assertive and suggestive language in water conservation campaigns

The current work focuses on non-price policies to achieve residential water conservation, specifically on water conservation campaigns. The authors report the results of a large-scale longitudinal field experiment encouraging residential water conservation among 1500 households. The effectiveness of two commonly-used message phrasings is compared: an assertive and a suggestive message. Assertive messages employ a commanding tone, such as “You must conserve water”, whereas suggestive messages employ a more gentle approach, as in “Please consider conserving water”. Despite the ubiquitous use of assertive phrasing in pro-social messages, and previous research that suggests that, in some cases, assertive language can increase message compliance, the authors show here that the suggestive, gentler, message language can make a more accentuated change in residential water conservation behavior. This may stem from the status of water as a basic needs resource, which may reduce the appropriateness of freedom restricting language, such as an assertive tone

Promoting new pro-environmental behaviors: The effect of combining encouraging and discouraging messages

Promoting pro-environmental behavior faces multiple challenges. Promoting new pro-environmental behaviors is even more challenging, due to additional barriers, such as perceived lack of information. Traditional pro-environmental communication often either encourages desired behaviors or discourages undesired behaviors. We argue that separately, these two approaches are limited in their ability to elicit perceptions of informativeness and therefore they may not be effective enough in the context of new pro-environmental behaviors, because of the profound need in educating the public about these new behaviors. Addressing this challenge, we test across six studies the effectiveness of a communication approach based on education psychology (specifically the “behavior reorientation” approach), which combines the encouraging and the discouraging language in a single integrated message. In three large field experiments and a field survey we find that, compared with communication that uses separately an encouraging or a discouraging message, a combined message that integrates both approaches elicits higher engagement with new pro-environmental behaviors. Three follow-up online studies demonstrate that the effect of the combined message occurs only in the context of new (rather than established) pro-environmental behaviors, and show the mediating role of perceived informativeness, echoing the need for education in such contexts