Phonetic Symbolism Effects on Consumer Evaluations of Spokesperson Characteristics

This study investigates the effect of phonetic symbolism on consumer evaluations of abstract spokesperson characteristics, namely, friendliness, masculinity and attractiveness. Two between subjects experiments were undertaken to test the effects of the vowel sound contained in a spokesperson name (front vs. back) on perceived spokesperson characteristics. Whilst results are in some aspects inconsistent with prior psycholinguistic research, results across both experiments showed consistent psycholinguistic effects when spokesperson name was considered. Results showed that consumers perceived a spokesperson with a name containing a back vowel sound as friendlier, more masculine and more attractive.