From Bye to Buy: Homophones as a Phonological Route to Priming

Abstract

Words prime semantic and conceptually related associates and concepts. This article documents a novel route of priming disparate meanings relevant to consumer behaviors. Reading processes use word sound, not spelling, to activate word meaning in memory. Reading a homophone (e.g., "bye")-a word with identical pronunciation as another word but with different spelling and meaning-activates meanings and concepts related to the complementary homophone (e.g., "buy"). Homophone priming occurs when a secondary process fails to suppress activated meanings associated with the complementary homophone, which may influence meaning-relevant consumer behaviors downstream. Two experiments (with replications) demonstrate this effect occurs when consumers experience diminished cognitive resources, which reduces the ability to suppress complementary homophone meanings. This research identifies word sound as an associative link between otherwise unrelated concepts that can result in priming of judgments and behavior. Importantly, these results are difficult to predict from a purely semantic or associative priming perspective.

Alliteration Alters: Phonetic Overlap in Promotional Messages Influences Evaluations and Choice

“…The majority of reading research suggests reading has a phonological basis-it is the subvocalized word sound providing the linkage between written word and meaning stored in memory (Davis and Herr 2014;Frost 1998;Meyer, Schvaneveldt and Ruddy 1974;Perfetti, Bell, and Delaney 1988;Van Orden 1987; see also Harm and Seidenberg 2004 for a review). Sound-related characteristics of words influence individuals' use of language in other ways.…”

Role of executive attention in consumer learning with background music

“…Extant research on working memory also shows that when an individual reads text, say on a website or an ad, s/he engages in sub‐vocal articulation (speaking with his/her inner voice); sub‐vocal articulation has been shown to be necessary in encoding visually presented words (Baddeley, 2001; Davis & Herr, 2014). However, when reading is undertaken in the presence of background speech, the words from background speech are presumed to automatically enter working memory (Salamé & Baddeley, 1982, 1989).…”

When Your Source Is Smiling, Consumers May Automatically Smile with You: Investigating the Source Expressive Display Hypothesis

“…By understanding the theoretical processes of source expressive display-based judgments, a greater understanding of how consumers interpret source expressive facial displays and use them to evaluate advertising stimuli is achieved. Drawing from prior research in marketing examining the automaticity (effortlessness) of consumer judgments (Baxter, Kulczynski, & Ilicic, 2014;Davis & Herr, 2014;Yorkston & Menon, 2004), it is argued that if emotions experienced as a result of exposure to an advertisement featuring a source smiling occur under conditions when there is an increased demand on cognitive resources (i.e., under conditions of cognitive load), these emotional judgments may be deemed effortless and, therefore, automatic. As such, the following hypothesis is proposed: H1: Consumers will report heightened (reduced) feelings of pleasantness when exposed to a source displaying a facial expression of a smile (resting face), irrespective of cognitive capacity constraints.…”