Alphanumeric brand names for global branding: Does the alpha matter?
(2017). Journal of International Business Education, 12(1).
What the paper shows
In short
The study asks whether letters of the alphabet carry different meanings in different countries, which matters for brand names that mix letters and numbers, such as Audi Q5. Comparing consumers in the United States and India, it finds many letters are seen similarly but some differ on hedonism, masculinity or prestige. Global brands should test their letters before launching in new countries.
Abstract
The growth in international marketing has highlighted challenges related to global branding strategies. International marketing managers often tend to underestimate challenges involved in maintaining consistency in brand meaning and associations across different countries and cultures. To address issues related to country specific interpretations of brand names, firms often use alphanumeric brand names (ABNs). ABNs consist of a mix of alphabets and numbers (Audi Q5) and are considered culturally neutral. The authors conduct a cross-cultural study to understand differences and similarities in consumer perceptions of Roman alphabets. Specifically, the authors compare consumer attitudes across United States (US) and India on three marketing-relevant dimensions. The results show interesting comparisons for various alphabets on three dimensions (degree of hedonism, masculinity and prestige) across India and US. While a number of alphabets are perceived similarly, for some alphabets there are significant differences in how people across the two countries perceive them.
Abstract retrieved from Publisher landing page (Neilson Journals, JIBE).