It is not just a name: Effects of proper name for high‐quality versus low‐quality brands

Abstract

The usage of proper names to advertise a product is ubiquitous in the marketplace. In many cases, there is very little information about these names. For example, treatment lotion by “Lady Aiko.” This research examines whether such a strategy effectively increases evaluations for a product. If so, is this strategy more effective when used by a high‐quality brand or a low‐quality brand? Across one field study, one text analytics study, and two experimental studies, we find that the proper name strategy can lead to higher product evaluations and that such names are more effective when advertised for a low‐quality brand. We first propose, using contagion effects, that products advertised with a proper name are more likely to contain the essence of human creation, resulting in greater product effectiveness than identical products without such proper names. Furthermore, we employ the expectation‐disconfirmation account to propose that when the brand has a higher (vs. lower) quality (expectation stage), the product with a proper name strategy (postexpectation stage) leads to small (vs. large) positive disconfirmation, which thereby results in assimilation (vs. contrast) and forming product evaluations similar (vs. higher) to the original assessments of the brand. We offer implications for new product marketers on how to be most effective in influencing product evaluations, as well as policymakers looking to improve consumer welfare by encouraging manufacturers of generic products to consider using a proper name strategy.