Shakespeare is famous for having written that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” in his play Romeo and Juliet. What the bard didn’t understand when he wrote that, however, is that words affect perception. The phenomenon is so well-known, in fact, that psychologists have a specific term for it and marketing agents spend big money to get product names just right. Here is how the names of business, products, and more affect peoples’ purchasing decisions.
Brand Name Affects Judgement
Researchers have learned that brand names for products affect purchase decisions. Brand names that contain hints about the key benefits of the underlying product have positive effects on consumer choice, encouraging them to purchase the product over competitors. For instance, a cleaning product called “BrightShine,” for example, is likely to fare better than one called “CounterWipe” even though they both do the same thing.
Names Affect Personality
In multiple studies across several different cultures, research has shown that both people and computers can match faces to names correctly with a frequency that cannot be explained by chance alone. In other words, a person’s name affects choices about everything from hair style to make up, making it possible to determine a person’s name simply by the way he or she looks. This is called the Dorian Grey Effect.
Melanotan Reflects the Value of Branding in supplements.
The research product and supplement industry is well known for spending large amounts of time and money determining the perfect name for its products. This is because the name of a drug, supplement, peptide, or medication affects how consumers view safety and efficacy. It can even affect how well the product is remembered and thus whether they ask for it by name the next time they are looking to buy it.
The name of a supplement should suggest positive qualities the product is meant to evoke. For instance, the peptide melanotan, which is currently being researched in animal and clinical trials, was so named to highlight the fact that it affects skin tone and melanin production by allowing for sunless tanning. The very name melanotan is enough to conjure up images of happy, well-tanned people enjoying warm sunlight and relaxing in an exotic location.Melanotan peptide research has also been shown to help prevent skin cancer by stimulating melanin production without the harmful rays of the sun. Melanotan peptide research can be found here;
The melanotan peptide has not yet been approved by the FDA.
Simple Names and Success in Business
It turns out that your name can affect how successful you are in life. Research indicates that people with names that are easier to pronounce tend to be favored in selection processes (e.g. admissions, hiring). Similarly, companies with simpler names and ticker symbols tend to perform better in the stock market. When it comes to branding, the KISS (keep it simple) philosophy really is important.
It is also true that names that sound regal or convey a sense of nobility can help people land better jobs and succeed in life. If you have a regal-sounding name that is also short and close to the beginning of the alphabet, there is a better chance you’ll become an executive in the c-suite. Simply put, names convey a lot to people reading or hearing them.
What Is Really in A Name?
It turns out that names, tags, and memes can change the outcome of a person’s life or determine the success of a product. Don’t be hasty to name your company or your product, take the time to understand the market and test various words, sound combinations, and spelling styles to determine what name best grabs the attention of your target audience. Believe it or not, the name of your product can mean the difference between success and failure.