We show that consumers' intra-brand choices (e.g., Mercedes C330 vs. C340) can be affected by exposure to a competitor alphanumeric brand name that forms an incidental trend with the numbers in the focal brand names (e.g., BMW350i). We propose and test two mechanisms. First, when no attribute...

This research shows that round numbers (e.g., 10, 50, 100) are strongly associated with completeness perceptions and consumers view them as thresholds for reaching certain completeness levels. In nine empirical studies, we demonstrate that round numbers in brand names, i.e., Round Alphanumeric...

Purpose – Copycat brands offering improved product quality pose serious challenges to original brands. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of why consumers prefer copycat brands with superior product attributes and how original brands can shift this preference back by...

This paper, in five experiments, delineates the effects of alpha and numeric components of alphanumeric brand names (ANBs), by demonstrating the effects of disparities in processing between letter and number sequences on consumers' brand evaluations. Findings show (i) ascending letters in ANBs...

Drawing on numerical cognition research, weidentify a set of multi-context numbers (MCN) that originatefrom the decimal (10), duodecimal (12) and sexagesimal(60) numeral systems frequently used in numerousdomains (e.g., 10, 12, 20, 24, 60, 360, 100). We proposeand show that inclusion of MCN in...