Prestige in Pronunciation: How Stress Patterns of Brand Name Shape Luxury Perceptions
Release time：10 June 2025
Jun
10
|
Time & Date
|
10:30 am
-
12:00 pm,
June
10,
2025
(Tuesday)
|
| Topic: | Prestige in Pronunciation: How Stress Patterns of Brand Name Shape Luxury Perceptions |
| Time&Date: | 10:30 am -11:30 pm, June 10, 2025 (Tuesday) |
| Venue | Room D504, Teaching Complex D Building |
| Speaker: |
Lei Su City University of Hong Kong |
| Abstract: | Despite the pervasiveness of stress patterns, a phonetic feature embedded in all multi-syllabic brand names, no prior research has examined how stress patterns in brand name pronunciations shape consumers’ brand perceptions and their psychological mechanisms. Using a multimethod approach that incorporates eleven studies, including two secondary data analyses (over 8,769 real-world brand names and 871,351 online reviews) and nine experiments (total N = 2,917), the authors demonstrate that brands with back-stressed names (e.g., Velorin /vɛˈloʊrɪn/) are perceived as more luxurious than those with front-stressed names (e.g., Velorin /ˈvɛloʊrɪn ). They further show that this effect occurs because back- (vs. front-) stressed brand names evoke stronger perceived pronunciation intricacy, which in turn enhances consumers’ luxury perceptions of the brand. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate that the observed effect attenuates in the presence of pre-existing brand name associations, when luxury brand narratives are provided, and among sound-insensitive individuals. The research findings offer valuable insights for marketers seeking to enhance luxury positioning through strategic brand naming. |
| Biography: | Prof. Lei Su is an Associate Professor at the City University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on consumer behaviour, and her recent research interests include digital communication, social influence, human-computer interaction (HCI), and psycholinguistics. Her research has been published in top-tier marketing journals, including the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing, and Journal of Consumer Psychology. She has led grant-funded research projects over the years as Principal Investigator and achieved an award for the best paper at a prestigious international conference. Prof. Su acts as the marketing MSc program director. |
