Examining the brand name – mark relationship in emerging markets
| Date | 18 August 2014 |
| Pages | 262-267 |
| Published date | 18 August 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-03-2014-0512 |
| Author | Richard R Klink,Gerard A. Athaide |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
Examining the brand name – mark
relationship in emerging markets
Richard R. Klink and Gerard A. Athaide
Marketing Department, Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate whether the brand name–mark sound symbolism relationship extends beyond US
marketplaces to emerging markets. Sound symbolism research indicates that consistent brand name meaning can be conveyed across international
marketplaces. Yet, prior work has not investigated whether visual branding elements provide consistent meaning across such contexts.
Design/methodology/approach – To contrast effects across international contexts, we replicate both studies of Klink (2003) with bilingual
subjects in Mumbai, India. Study 1 examined whether the sound symbolic relationship between brand name and brand mark holds in this emerging
market. Study 2 investigated whether both the brand name and brand mark together can enhance brand meaning in this context.
Findings – Study 1 finds support for the relationship between higher-frequency brand names and brand marks that are angular and smaller in size,
with limited support regarding color. Study 2 finds a significant effect for brand marks and a marginally significant effect for brand names on
conveying intended meaning.
Originality/value – The authors confirm the relationship between the brand mark and brand name; however, color meaning may be less universal
than prior theory and research indicates. In addition, the effect of the brand name on conveying sound symbolism meaning may be less important
than visual branding elements in emerging markets. Hence, future research may wish to include additional branding elements in experimental stimuli
when testing sound symbolism theory.
Keywords Brand meaning, Global branding, Brand name, Logo design
Paper type Research paper
An executive summary for managers and executive
readers can be found at the end of this issue.
Understanding how to create a global brand is of “paramount
importance” (Ozsomer et al., 2012). The elemental building
blocks of a brand are the brand name and mark. Recent
replications of Lowrey and Shrum (2007) find that brand
names can be created to convey consistent meaning across
global marketplaces using sound symbolism (Baxter and
Lowrey, 2014;Kuehnl and Mantau, 2013;Shrum et al.,
2012). Sound symbolism refers to the direct linkage between
sound and meaning – e.g. the letter oin a brand name better
conveys darkness than the letter i(Klink, 2000).
The sound symbolic meaning conveyed by the name can be
accentuated by brand mark characteristics (Klink, 2003). For
example, the effect of using the name Gonder (vs. Ginder)to
convey the darkness of a new brand of beer can be enhanced
by using a brand mark that is large, rounded and dark colored
(vs small, angular and light colored). However, prior research
has not investigated whether the brand name–mark
relationship extends beyond the US marketplace. Henderson
et al. (2003) offer that visual elements of a brand may have a
more pronounced effect in less developed countries than the
USA For instance, corporate identity was found to have a
greater influence on consumers in China than in the USA
(Han and Schmitt, 1997). Visual elements of the brand are
also believed to have relatively strong effects in India – helping
overcome issues of literacy, phonetics, pronunciation,
language and dialect (Ekuan et al., 2001).
Thus, while prior research has found brand names to
convey consistent meaning across countries, this effect may be
altered when the name is supplemented with the brand mark.
The purpose of this research is to investigate whether the
brand name–mark relationship extends beyond US
marketplaces to emerging markets. To compare across these
contexts, we replicate both studies of Klink (2003) in
Mumbai, India. With approximately 300 million consumers
having significant purchasing power, India represents an
important emerging market (Khanna et al., 2005;
Subramanian and Gopalkrishna, 2001). We chose Mumbai
because, similar to other cosmopolitan cities in emerging
markets, brand names in English are common even though
English is not the predominant language.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. We begin with
background on sound symbolism theory and its relation to
brand marks. Two studies are described and their results
presented. We conclude with a discussion of implications and
directions for future research.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
23/4/5 (2014) 262–267
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-03-2014-0512]
This research was supported by a Summer Research Grant from the
Sellinger School of Business at Loyola University, Maryland.
Both authors contributed equally to this article.
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