Brand Name & Sound Symbolism

Brand Naming Strategy

Sound Symbolism means that the mere sound of a word, apart from its actual definition, conveys meaning.

Words containing certain sounds bear certain meanings — Mikhail Lomonosov.

Research shows that people unconsciously associate distinct sounds resulting from different letter combinations with size, weight, speed, shape, and hardness. Brand name sounds can influence consumer behavior.

Bouba/Kiki Effect —In one experiment, researchers showed a curvy object and an angular object to people. They asked them to identify which shape would be called Bouba or Kiki. Ninety-five percent of subjects replied that Kiki is the angular shape and Bouba is the round shape. Some sounds convey the meaning “round,” while other sounds convey the meaning “angular”.

Mil/Mal — In 1929, Dr.Sapir experimented. He asked test participants to associate two meaningless words, mil, and mal, with a small and a large table. Eighty percent of them chose mal for a large table and mil for a small one.

Frish/Frosh — Yorkston and Menon (2004) created two fictitious brand names for ice cream, Frish, and Frosh. Participants perceived that the Frosh brand was smoother, richer, and creamier than the Frish brand.

To understand the reasons behind the Bouba/Kiki, Mil/Mal, Frish/Frosh effect, we need to learn the ramifications of front/back vowels.

Front/Back Vowels — A common method of categorizing vowel sounds is by a front versus back distinction. This distinction refers to where the tongue is positioned when a word is pronounced.

The research shows that people perceive front vowels(produced in the front of the mouth — i, e, o) as feminine, small, fast, light, and angular. Eg-Kiki, Mil, Frish. The studies also showed that people feel that the back vowels(produced from the back of the mouth like ‘ou’) represent large, masculine, slow, dark, and round. The back vowel ‘o’ made people believe ‘Frosh’ brand smoother than the Frish brand(Which has a front vowel).