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A spokesperson with any name won’t be as charming: the phonetic effect of spokesperson name and gender on personality evaluations

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Abstract

We examined the effect of vowel sounds contained in spokesperson names and spokesperson gender on consumer perceptions of spokesperson personality and brand personality evaluations. Using an experimental design across three studies, we found that when gender of the spokesperson is known, the vowel sounds contained in a spokesperson’s name only influenced personality traits when the spokesperson was a male. For example, a male spokesperson with a name that contained back vowel sounds (i.e. Odyn Tolley) was perceived as more charming, outdoorsy, and tough. The effect of vowel sounds in a spokesperson’s name on personality perceptions attenuated when the spokesperson was female. Further, the phonetic meaning derived from sounds in male spokesperson names was found to exert a greater influence on brand personality perceptions than phonetic meaning derived from sounds in brand names. Advertisers and marketing managers are advised to strategically name created spokespeople in line with desired personality perceptions and with careful consideration of spokesperson gender.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the University of Newcastle for funding this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle, 409 Hunter Street, Newcastle, NSW, 2300, Australia

    Alicia Kulczynski

  2. University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Stacey Brennan

  3. Monash Business School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    Jasmina Ilicic

Authors
  1. Alicia Kulczynski
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  2. Stacey Brennan
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  3. Jasmina Ilicic
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Correspondence to Alicia Kulczynski.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Study 2 Stimuli: Male and female with front vowel (left) and back vowel (right) spokesperson name.

figure a

Appendix 2

Study 3 Stimuli: Male spokesperson with no name across three brand names: Nodox (back vowels), Nadax (front vowels), NDX (no vowels) [top], Male spokesperson with non-outdoorsy name (front vowels) name across three brand names: Nodox (back vowels), Nadax (front vowels), NDX (no vowels) [middle], and Male spokesperson with outdoorsy name across three brand names: Nodox (back vowels), Nadax (front vowels), NDX (no vowels) [bottom].

figure b

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Kulczynski, A., Brennan, S. & Ilicic, J. A spokesperson with any name won’t be as charming: the phonetic effect of spokesperson name and gender on personality evaluations. J Brand Manag 28, 221–239 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-020-00218-2

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