Love the new and loathe the old: The influence of alphabetic order in a brand series on consumers' preferences

A brand series employs various letters which make such variations in brand names relatively comparable. However, scant attention has been paid to the influence of alphabetic order in a brand series on consumers' preferences(liking). This research aims to investigate the influence of alphabetic order in a brand series on consumers' preferences(liking) based on space-time congruity theory. With 4 experiments, this paper examines how the alphabetic order in a brand series influences consumers' preferences(liking) and uncovers the underlying psychological mechanism that connects alphabetic order in a brand series and consumers' preferences(liking). The findings indicate that a brand series employing a late letter receives more favors than a comparatively early letter. Newness perception mediates the effect of alphabetic order in brands on consumers' preferences(liking). For the products which accord with 'new means advantages' (the time value for these products is 'new means more advantages and better performances than old'), a brand series employing a late letter receives more favors than a comparatively early letter. However, for the products which accord with 'old means advantages' (the time value for these products is 'old means more advantages and better performances than new'), this effect is the opposite. The effect of alphabetic order in a brand series on consumers' preferences(liking) is only significant when consumers are in high involvement condition. The paper provides new insight into the influence of alphabetic order in a brand series on consumers' preferences.
Author(s): Wenting Feng [sup.1] , LiJia Wang [sup.2] , Tao Wang [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.503241.1, 0000 0004 1760 9015, Gemmological Institute, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), , Wuhan, China [...]