Data suggests that brand names trigger more of an emotional response than other nouns. This is because we typically process language in the more rational parts of our brain, but are prone to passing a brand through our more emotionally-driven right side before reacting.¹

This means that brand names play an invaluable role in modern marketing, and can appeal directly to consumers in a multifaceted way. Much like how advertising can influence how a target audience feels about a company, the ability to appeal to the right side of a consumer’s brain means that brand names have more resonance than we may give them credit for. 

Learning From Maslow

There are many parallels between modern brand names and widespread intent to appeal to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.²

Depending on the industry of brands, naming can be derived from the wish to fulfill deficiency needs associated with our basic bodily functions, safety, love and belonging, or esteem. 

Brand names can also appeal to our growth needs, seeking to appeal to our desire for knowledge or understanding, aesthetics, self-actualization, and self-fulfillment. 

While names like Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, PayPal, and BAND-AID can all appeal to our deficiency needs, others like Intel, Wealthify, Hugo Boss, and Vogue are all names that resonate with our growth needs. 

In practice, this means that there are many angles that businesses can take when creating a brand name. One popular approach is to appeal to the concept of association.³ This means that a brand name will be associated with positive attributes like quality, reliability, or innovation, which can help to build a positive image in the minds of consumers. Names like Best Buy and Top Shop are examples of the concept of association in action. 

Another strategy in the naming process is the concept of familiarity. This focuses on using a brand name that’s immediately familiar to customers and the use of common words or phrases can help to extend a company’s reach further. It’s for this reason that dotcom brands like Hotels.com and Booking.com resonate well with audiences. 

You can also use imagery and symbolism within your brand name to appeal to the subconscious receptiveness of consumers. While this can be more effective when paired with a memorable logo, visual names like Mountain Dew, BlackBerry, and Caterpillar can all be recalled better among customers. 

Size Matters

Every syllable your name uses can be a turn-off to customers. Keeping things short and snappy can make all the difference when it comes to recalling your brand.⁴ Some of the world’s biggest companies like Apple, Google, Walmart, and Shell all use simple names that are a maximum of two syllables for ease of reference. 

The effectiveness of short and snappy brand names was put to the test in a 2019 study by Abhishek Pathak et al.⁵ Consisting of 99 participants aged between 22 and 57 years old, the study found that individuals are faster to respond to shorter names due to the frequency of shorter words in the English language (the top 92 of the 100 most frequent words appearing in the Corpus of American English (COCA) are mono-syllabic) and the volume of their orthographic and phonological neighbors. 

The findings also showed that brand names can replicate linguistic trends. While everyday objects are more concrete and generally have shorter names, similar to many everyday brands, luxury goods, and brands are often longer in form and are acknowledged as distinctive and unique. 

This form-to-meaning relationship means that shorter words can be more concrete as a whole, familiar, and image-able. However, the appeal of short and snappy brand names may not help luxury brands seeking to underline the quality of their products with an appropriate level of branding. 

But for brands seeking to shorten their name further using initials, it may be a folly. According to a recent study by Paulo de Lencastre et al entitled The effect of brand names and logos’ figurativeness on memory: An experimental approach, we distinguish between words and initials differently, and the latter can be hard to pronounce and even more difficult to memorize.⁶

Because they are not inherently meaningful, initials can be more difficult for consumers to process and retrieve, which could lead to brands being ignored altogether. 

The study also acknowledges that initials make it more difficult for the name to differentiate the brand. However, the use of initials can also make it easier for people to read and pronounce longer and more complex names, even though it will take longer to create brand memory and relevant associations. 

Can a Bad Name be Good? 

Brand names are complex, and it’s not uncommon to see a business opt for a more vulgar name in a bid to improve consumer recollection. 

There are many brands with names that feature negative connotations, including Fat Face, Poison, Loser, Firetrap, and even Fat Bastard wine. But is embracing a negative name really a good idea in appealing to consumers? 

According to a 2016 study entitled Brand Suicide? Memory and Liking of Negative Brand Names, Duncan Guest et al found that the superior recognition of negative brand names and their associated logos improved arousal and valence among the 84 undergraduate participants.⁷

The study concluded that using a negative brand name can have a positive impact on memory and potentially improved effects on brand awareness as a result. But Guest warned that this benefit may come at the cost of the consumer evaluations of branded products due to their associations with negative terms which could prompt an avoidance response. 

Creating a Suitable Name

Do these insights help us to idealize the perfect brand name? Of course, the answer always depends on the specific unique selling point, goals, and target market for businesses. 

For non-luxury brands, shorter names without resorting to initials that appeal to the needs of their consumers can be a major advantage. Whereas, luxury brands that have longer names to match the unique qualities of their products and possess a similarly complex branding to match could perform better. 

Psychologically, adopting a negative brand name can be advantageous too, particularly in highly competitive industries. However, this more left-field approach could backfire due to the possible avoidance response adopted by consumers. 

The human mind is a highly complex system, and marketers have long been attempting to find the right formula to boost brand recognition and loyalty. With this in mind, mastering the art of branding could be one of the most challenging aspects of business ownership.

References

¹ Ramb, J. (2020). Understanding the Psychology Behind Perfect Brand Names. LinkedIn. Retrieved July 14, 2025, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/understanding-psychology-behind-perfect-brand-names-justin-ramb

² Agarwal, S. (2009, July 06). Psychology & Psychiatry16 What is in a Brand Name which Appeals to the Brain? BrainBlogger. https://brainblogger.com/2009/07/06/what-is-in-a-brand-name-which-appeals-to-the-brain/

³ The Psychology of Business Names: Choosing a Name That Resonates With Your Target Audience. (n.d.). Registry. https://registry.com.au/news/38/the-psychology-of-business-names-choosing-a-name-that-resonates-with-your-target-audience#:~:text=A%20business%20name%20can%20evoke,remember%20business%20names%20is%20significant.

⁴ Valensky, L. (2023, July 20). Starting a Business Checklist: 10 Things You Need to Know. Epos Now. https://www.eposnow.com/us/resources/starting-a-business-checklist/

⁵ Pathak, A. (2019, July 22). Going to great lengths in the pursuit of luxury: How longer brand names can enhance the luxury perception of a brand. Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mar.21247

⁶ Lencastre, P. d. (2023, September). The effect of brand names and logos’ figurativeness on memory: An experimental approach. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296323003028

⁷ Guest, D. (2016, March 29). Brand Suicide? Memory and Liking of Negative Brand Names. PubMed Central. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4811583/