The contribution of a brand spokesperson’s voice to consumer-based brand equity
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-06-2016-1230 |
| Published date | 21 August 2017 |
| Pages | 492-502 |
| Date | 21 August 2017 |
| Author | Alice Zoghaib |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
The contribution of a brand spokesperson’s
voice to consumer-based brand equity
Alice Zoghaib
Department of Marketing, Institut Superieur de Gestion, Paris, France
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to explore the characteristics of a brand spokesperson’s voice that are the most valuable for consumer-based brand
equity (CBBE) and evaluates various explanations in previous research regarding the influences of a speaker’s voice.
Design/methodology/approach – Brand identities can transfer their associations and affect as well as influence brand recall, thus contributing to
CBBE. In addition, the pitch and gender of a speaker’s voice are considered as key characteristics of voice perception. This experimental study
exposed 521 respondents to 12 different voices and measured the effects of a spokesperson’s voice pitch and gender on associations, attitude toward
the voice and brand recall.
Findings – This study presents a model that explains the influence of a brand spokesperson’s voice on CBBE. The findings show that low-pitched
voices induced distinctive, positive associations and led to a more positive attitude toward the voice and greater brand recall, regardless of the
gender of the spokesperson and that of the respondent. Moreover, voice associations partially mediated the effects on attitude toward the voice
and completely mediated the effects on brand recall.
Originality/value – While numerous brands have resorted to specific voices to represent themselves, brand spokesperson’s voice and its
associations have not been studied. This study highlights the importance of a spokesperson’s voice pitch and its associations in building CBBE and
nuances the roles of spokespersons’ and respondents’ gender.
Keywords Advertising, Brand awareness, Brand identity, Brand communication, Consumer brand equity, Gender studies, Audio branding,
Pitch, Sensory marketing, Spokesperson’s voice
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Voices are commonly used in a wide variety of marketing
messages. In fact, evidence from psychology suggests that a
speaker’s voice can be a powerful persuasion tool that conveys
rich emotions and imagery (Mehrabian and Wiener, 1967)as
well as provides a focal point in advertisements, unbeknownst
to the consumers (Chattonadhyay et al., 2003). Consequently,
numerous brands use the specific voice of a spokesperson to
represent themselves, sometimes for years and across multiple
channels. For instance, Apple used the same instructive,
neutral male voice-over in its iPhone ads until 2014.
Subsequently, for the first time in its history, the company
switched to the lively voice of a young woman (actor Lake
Bell).
A brand spokesperson’s voice belongs to brand identities,
defined by Keller (1993) as brand components used to
represent the brand (e.g. brand name, logo or symbol), and
building brand equity for consumers. In addition,
consumer-based brand equity (CBBE), defined as the added
value endowed by the brand to the product, is a key marketing
asset for brands at present (Christodoulides and de
Chernatony, 2010). CBBE is also the fruit of a complex
process, leading to, inter alia, enhanced consumer preferences
and purchase intentions (Chatzipanagiotou et al., 2016).
Numerous studies on brand identities (visual logo: Phillips
et al., 2014; jingles: Krishnan et al., 2012; brand name: Klink
and Wu, 2014;Hillenbrand et al., 2013; design: Brunner et al.,
2016;Mishra, 2016) have indicated that brand identities can
influence brand attitude, brand awareness and brand
associations, all of which represent the key dimensions of
CBBE (Low and Lamb, 2000;Keller, 2003;Pappu et al.,
2005). Following the connectionist approach of knowledge,
Dimofte and Yalch (2011) showed that a brand cue can
trigger brand recall as well as transfer its associations and
affect, thus contributing to CBBE. In this regard, the present
study investigates the effects of a brand spokesperson’s voice
on three key variables: voice associations, attitude toward the
voice and brand recall.
Extensive literature in psychology have shown that the pitch
of the voice [i.e. the perceived “highness” or “lowness” of a
voice (Tusing and Dillard, 2000)] is the most important vocal
characteristic in the voice perception process (Belin et al.,
2011;Hancock and Garabedian, 2013). Despite its central
role, the majority of studies in marketing and psychology have
indicated that a speaker’s voice pitch has no direct effect on
the message recipients’ responses, based on the gender of the
voice (Zuckerman and Miyake, 1993), the gender of the
message recipients (Whipple and McManamon, 2002;Re
et al., 2012;Wiener and Chartrand, 2014;Zhang, 2016) and
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
26/5 (2017) 492–502
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-06-2016-1230]
Received 28 June 2016
Revised 20 December 2016
12 April 2017
Accepted 14 April 2017
492
To continue reading
Request your trial