Citation
(2015), "Executive summary “Communicating product size using sound and shape symbolism”", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 24 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-08-2015-911
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Executive summary “Communicating product size using sound and shape symbolism”
Article Type: Executive summary and implications for managers and executives From: Journal of Product & Brand Management, Volume 24, Issue 5
This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives a rapid appreciation of the content of this article. Those with a particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article in toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of the research undertaken and its results to get the full benefits of the material present.
Phonetic symbolism has been the subject of considerable scholarly attention over the past decade or so. This theoretical approach is based on the premise that phonemes (sounds) transmit meaning and are thus a significant form of communication. One common finding is the apparent correlation between type of sound and size. Studies have, for instance, shown that the vowel sound in the word “boot” often reflects large objects. Small objects are likewise evidently linked with shorter vowel sounds, like in “bit”. Evidence indicates consistency in the way sound represents meaning. It is also claimed that perception of size increases as the articulation of a vowel sound moves from front to back of the mouth.
Investigating how consumers react to brand-related stimuli is one way the theory has been utilized. The work of various researchers has shown how phonemes contained within a brand name can signal the attributes of a product or brand. Findings in this area show that consumers feel that brand names containing front vowels are more appropriate for goods which are regarded as “small, fast and light”. On the other hand, “large, slow and heavy” products are better represented by back vowel sounds.
More recent work notes that the impact of sound symbolism is influenced by a person’s stage of development. A significant finding is that phonetic symbolism does not impact on children until they reach around nine years old and have developed certain language-related capabilities. Other work has discovered that the impact of sound symbolism on children is further hindered by cognitive limitations.
Another area of research is shape symbolism. In this sphere, meaning is interpreted from the “cross-modal mapping” which relates shapes to other sensory attributes. Most work has focused on packaging, with only minimal attention paid specifically to brand logo design. Among the indications here, bitter, sour, crunchy and carbonated attributes are often associated with the use of more angular shapes on the packaging used. Shapes which are more rounded in nature typically represent sweetness, smoothness, richness and creaminess.
Relative to sound symbolism, Baxter et al. contend that shape symbolism reflected through brand logos reflects a higher degree of abstraction. The absence of phonetics within a logo makes interpretation even more difficult where children are concerned. On the basis of evidence available, it appears that children are unable to understand symbolic meaning until around the stage of 11-12 years of age. They consequently lack the necessary skills to extract meaning from abstract brand entities like logos.
A number of academics suggest that certain natural relationships between shape and sound may exist within the English language. It is claimed that rounded vowels like “o” and curved letter shapes are typically linked with round objects. On the other hand, it is more usual for objects which are angular or pointed to be connected with angular letter shapes and vowels, with “i” an example of the latter. This is known as the “bouba-kiki effect” following research which used these nonsense words to prove the existence of the aforementioned sound–shape relations. Earlier work noted that children aged between 8 and 14 years demonstrated some capacity to match angular images and rounded images with relevant words.
How words are articulated in terms of use of the tongue, lips and oral cavity explains the bouba-kiki effect. The authors thus suggest that parallels can be drawn with the front and back vowel sounds recognized in phonetic symbolism. Similar claims were made earlier after a study linked words with back vowel sounds or front vowel sounds to rounded or angular images, respectively.
Different scholars have demonstrated that a link exists between sound symbolism and word image. In contrast, the relationship between sound symbolism in brand names and shape symbolism in the design of brand logos has not been widely explored from a marketing perspective. But research in psychology and psycholinguistics involving adult subjects indicated a similar relationship between vowel sounds and letter shape with regard to brand names.
It is, however, argued here that younger children will not be able to extract any product-related meaning, as they lack the ability to simultaneously process several stimuli dimensions reflecting both sound and shape symbolism. Prior evidence implies that such capacity does not develop until a child enters the “concrete operations” phase of their cognitive development.
Baxter et al. investigate these issues by first conducting a pilot study with 37 children aged between 6 and 10 years. Subjects were exposed to eight nonsense words, each of two syllables. Half contained a front vowel sound and the other half contained a back vowel sound. They marked the page to indicate preference for an oval or a rectangle for each test word, and results confirmed the bouba-kiki effect.
Children aged 5 to 12 years participated in the main study, with boys and girls almost equally represented in the 126-strong sample. Subjects were randomly exposed to one of four experimental conditions incorporating a front or back vowel brand name sound with either an angular or curved brand logo shape featured within an image of a toy. Based on the stimulus, children had to indicate their perception of the product’s size as being very small, small, big or very big.
Analysis revealed that:
Sound symbolism effects increase with age and that children’s ability to judge product attributes based on the vowel sounds in a brand name becomes significant at 7.04 years of age.
The ability of children to use brand logo shape as a means to ascertain product size does not emerge until they are older. It is at 8.3 years of age before significant use of shape symbolism occurs.
In general, both sound and shape symbolism effects strengthen as the child gets older.
Contrary to expectations, there was no significant evidence to support the belief that the ability to infer product size from the combined effect of brand name vowel sound and brand logo shape increases as children become older. The pre-test involving the bouba-kiki effect indicated that younger participants possess some capability in this respect. The authors regard this as a valuable finding for marketers, as being the first indication that phonetic sound symbolism is pertinent to younger children. Results show that older children can deduce meaning from either a name or logo. However, adding a second cue does not evidently increase the symbolism effects. Additional study is recommended though.
The authors believe that the relationships indicted here could help marketers of new toys. For instance, successful introduction of action figures could occur through combining a brand name with a front vowel sound with an angular brand logo. It is likewise suggested that a curved logo and back vowel sound might be most effective for the launch of a new brand of plush toys.
Based on these findings, it is argued that marketers hoping to develop “meaningful and creative brand elements” for either adult or child markets can exploit sound and shape symbolism.
In future, researchers could examine sound and shape symbolism in relation to outcomes like purchase intention and willingness to pay higher prices. Exploring the significance of prior brand knowledge and comparing real and fictitious brand names are other options to consider.
To read the full article, enter 10.1108/JPBM-11-2014-0748 into your search engine.
(A précis of the article “Communicating product size using sound and shape symbolism”. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald.)