Marketing Papers
Document Type
Technical Report
Date of this Version
6-2005
Publication Source
Journal of Consumer Research
Volume
32
Issue
1
Start Page
86
Last Page
92
DOI
10.1086/429602
Abstract
Building on Grice's (1975) theory of “conversational implicature,” we propose that consumers will react favorably to unusual color or flavor names (e.g., blue haze or Alpine snow) because they expect marketing messages to convey useful information. If the message is not informative or does not conform to expectations, consumers search for the reason for the deviation. This search results in additional (positive) attributions about the product, and thus, a more favorable response. The results of a series of experiments provide empirical support for our proposal and rule out some alternative explanations for the success of ambiguous naming strategies.
Copyright/Permission Statement
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in the Journal of Consumer Research following peer review. The version of record [Miller, E.G. & Kahn, B.E. (2005). Shades of Meaning: The Effect of Color and Flavor Names on Consumer Choice. Journal of Consumer Research 32, no. 1: 86-92.] is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/429602.
Keywords
preferences, judgment and decision making, experimental design and analysis (ANOVA)
Recommended Citation
Miller, E. G., & Kahn, B. E. (2005). Shades of Meaning: The Effect of Color and Flavor Names on Consumer Choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 32 (1), 86-92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/429602
Included in
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Date Posted: 15 June 2018
This document has been peer reviewed.