Extending the logic of processing fluency into the domain of food and beverage perceptions, this study explores whether the fluency of brand names can influence consumer perceptions of bottled-water attributes such as purity, taste, and mineral contents. Forty-four participants, who were presented with twelve unknown foreign brand names of bottled water, indicated their perceptions of water based solely on the brand names. The results revealed that perceptions of water purity and taste changed depending on whether the brand name was easy or difficult to process. Bottled water was more frequently perceived to be very pure when the foreign brand name was short and easy to pronounce. Bottled water was also more frequently perceived to taste “better-than-average” when the brand name was more fluent. Perceptions of mineral contents in the water were not influenced by the brand name fluency. This study expands our knowledge about various extrinsic cue effects on product perceptions by demonstrating the significant role of brand name fluency in forming consumer perceptions of bottled-water attributes.

本研究将加工流利度的逻辑扩展到食品和饮料感知领域，探讨了品牌流利度是否会影响消费者对瓶装水属性（如纯度，口味和矿物质含量）的感知。共有24位与会人员，他们分别获得了十二个未知的外国瓶装水品牌名称，他们仅根据品牌名称表示对水的理解。结果表明，对水的纯度和味道的看法会根据品牌名称的加工性或易加工性而改变。当外国品牌名称简短易读时，人们更经常将瓶装水视为纯净水。当品牌名称更流利时，人们更经常认为瓶装水的味道“好于平均水平”。水中矿物质含量的感知不受品牌流畅度的影响。这项研究通过证明品牌流利度在形成消费者对瓶装水属性的认知中的重要作用，扩展了我们对各种外部提示对产品认知的影响的知识。