A brand name’s linguistic characteristics convey brand qualities independent of the name’s denotative meaning. For instance, name length, sounds, and stress can signal masculine or feminine associations. This research examines the effects of such gender associations on three important brand outcomes: attitudes, choice, and performance. Across six studies using both observational analyses of real brands and experimental manipulations of invented brands the authors show that linguistically feminine names increase perceived warmth, which improves brand outcomes. Feminine brand names enhance attitudes and choice share–both hypothetically and consequentially–and are associated with better brand performance. The authors establish boundary conditions, showing that the feminine brand name advantage is attenuated when the typical user is male and when products are utilitarian.

品牌名称的语言特征传达的品牌品质与品牌名称的含义无关。例如，名字的长度，声音和重音可能表示男性或女性联想。这项研究考察了这种性别关联对三个重要品牌结果的影响：态度，选择和表现。在使用真实品牌的观察性分析和发明品牌的实验性操纵的六项研究中，作者表明，语言上的女性名字增加了感知的热情，从而改善了品牌成果。女性化的品牌名称（无论是假设性的还是结果性的）都可以提高态度和选择份额，并且可以提高品牌绩效。作者确定了边界条件，