4. Conclusion and discussion
Consumers often develop inferential beliefs about a new brand based on a very limited amount of information, including just a brand name. Our research emphasizes the importance of a brand name in forming consumer perceptions by demonstrating that even a “meaningless” feature of a brand name, like the mere ease or difficulty of reading and saying an unfamiliar brand name, can significantly influence consumer perceptions of important product attributes, particularly when other information is absent. In this study, we found that fluent brand names increased high water-purity and taste perceptions. Fluency also increased the likelihood of purchase intent. Interestingly, fluency significantly fed into expectations for water taste, even when it was not used as information in a preceding judgment about another attribute, mineral content. This study expands our knowledge about how subtle extrinsic cues, such as the fluency of a brand name, can affect consumer expectations for foods and beverages. It suggests that when marketers construct a new brand name, they need to consider the role of fluency in order to communicate and promote desirable product features more effectively. For example, a brand name that is disfluent for target-segment consumers would not be a congruent match with the imagery (e.g., the glacier or the mountain stream) and package designs that are intended to link the brand with high purity.
