Better branding: brand names can influence consumer choice
| Published date | 19 July 2013 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-04-2012-0120 |
| Date | 19 July 2013 |
| Pages | 300-308 |
| Author | Philipp Hillenbrand,Sarael Alcauter,Javier Cervantes,Fernando Barrios |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
Better branding: brand names can influence
consumer choice
Philipp Hillenbrand
Faculty of Business Administration and Accounting, Universidad Nacional Auto
´noma de Me
´xico, Mexico City, Mexico
Sarael Alcauter
National Institute of Psychiatry “Ramo
´n de la Fuente Mun˜ iz”/Institute for Neurobiology, Unive rsidad Nacional Auto
´noma de Me
´xico,
Juriquilla, Quere
´taro, Mexico
Javier Cervantes
Faculty of Business Administration and Accounting, Universidad Nacional Auto
´noma de Me
´xico, Mexico City, Mexico, and
Fernando Barrios
Institute for Neurobiology, Universidad Nacional Auto
´noma de Me
´xico, Juriquilla, Quere
´taro, Mexico
Abstract
Purpose – Researchers agree that the choice of brand name for a product can alter the consumers’ judgment about the product and their purchase
decision-making process. With competition getting fiercer and product quality becoming more homogenous, a “better” brand name can be decisive in
product choice if the consumers compare several products. The purpose of this research is to offer new physiological insights about how brand names
are processed in the consumer’s brain in order to identify potential determinants of “better” brand names.
Design/methodology/approach – Using valence and activation ratings, reaction time, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the
authors show the interaction of key brand name dimensions with the consumer purchase decision-making process, as well as the neurophysiological
basis of consumer preference for certain types of brand names.
Findings – The authors’ research shows that it has a positive effect on consumer choice to include in the brand name hints at the key benefits of the
underlying product.
Practical implications – The authors’ results demonstrate that fMRI is able to provide important insights for brand practitioners.
Originality/value – Current research has neither focused on the interaction of brand name dimensions with the consumer purchase decision-making
process nor provided insight about the physiological drivers of brand perception. In their research, the authors applied for the first time
neurophysiological methodologies and fMRI to questions related to brand names, resolving questions that have not been answered due to the
methodological limitations of social sciences.
Keywords Marketing, Neurosciences, Branding, Brand names, Brand name processing, Consumer behaviour, fMRI research, Neural systems,
Neuromarketing
Paper type Research paper
An executive summary for managers and executive
readers can be found at the end of this article.
1. Introduction – only limited insights available
on how to name a product
In today’s proliferating marketing space, an increasing
number of companies are competing for consumers that are
well informed and knowledgeable about their options. In this
“brand war”, competition is getting fiercer and product
quality is getting more homogenous (Court et al., 2006). As a
consequence, small advantages in the consumer’s judgment
about a product can translate into an important competitive
advantage in the marketplace.
The product name is often the first point of interaction
between a consumer and a product, later becoming the
placeholder under which the consumer memorizes the
characteristics he has perceived of the corresponding product.
If a marketer is knowledgeable about the determinants of
brand name design, it would be less expensive and less
complex to focus on what an “adequate” brand name might
look like right from the beginning than to later smooth away
the impact of a poorly chosen brand name by image
campaigns or even a relaunch. Consequently, a brand name
design should be carefully evaluated as it results in an
important competitive element in the interaction between a
company and the consumers.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
22/4 (2013) 300–308
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-04-2012-0120]
The authors would like to thank D. Pless for the careful revision of the
manuscript, Javier Cervantes of Psyma Latina SA de CV for his help as a
tutor, the funding and the National Institute of Psychiatry “Ramo
´ndela
Fuente Mun
˜iz” and the Institute of Neurobiology for all the support.
300
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