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A few years ago, while researching baby names, one of us was extremely disappointed to learn that his first name had become less and less popular over the last 20 years (he prefers to think its appeal is becoming more selective, like the popularity of the band Spinal Tap).
Perhaps it is not surprising that the author’s dwindling name popularity had a negative effect on him—after all, our names represent an important part of our self. For example, researchers have shown that we have a preference for letters that appear in our name compared to letters that don’t (Koole, Dijksterhuis, & van Knippenberg, 2001), and the question, “How much do you like your name?” can be used to assess a person’s self-esteem (Gebauer, Riketta, Broemer, & Maio, 2008). Research has also shown that people are more likely than chance to migrate to areas that resemble their name (Georgia is more likely to move to Georgia than Virginia) or have an occupation whose label is linked with their name (individuals named Dennis and Denise are overrepresented among dentists; see Pelham, Mirenberg, & Jones, 2002).
Researchers interested in attitudes have also considered ways in which an individual’s name might influence their thoughts and actions. In this post, we want to highlight one particularly interesting line of evidence in research on attitude change.
This research explored whether people devote more attention to a persuasive message coming from another individual whose name is similar to their own. Would someone named Darren be more likely to devote attention to a persuasive appeal coming from Derek compared to one from Stuart? If so, could this influence purchase decisions? These types of questions have been addressed in a fascinating set of studies by Daniel Howard and Roger Kerin (2011, 2013). In one study, these researchers asked participants to evaluate a resume. Some of the time, the individual named on the resume shared the same initials as the participant. For other participants, there was no such match. The results showed that participants remembered more of the resume’s content when they shared initials with the target. They also had a more positive impression of the target in the name similarity condition.
In a subsequent study, the researchers explored whether this link between name similarity and attention would be found in the context of consumer products. Here, participants saw an advertisement for a brand of cranberry juice where part of the product name was similar to or different from the participant’s name. Later, participants had the chance to evaluate and sample the drink. The researchers found that participants had a more positive attitude toward (and drank more of) the brand when the product name was similar to their own, and that the link between attitudes and consumption was stronger in the similarity condition compared to the dissimilarity condition. Subsequent work by Howard and Kerin has demonstrated that, outside the lab, people have a strong preference for branded products with names closely matching their own.
These results are interesting at a number of levels. To start, they shine a new light on understanding the factors that influence how much attention people pay to persuasive information presented by others. In this case, an individual or product with a name similar to the message recipient was enough to elicit greater attention to relevant information. Second, there are potential implications for how to enhance persuasion. The success of online advertising might be increased by advertisers developing personalized appeals that directly target the message recipient by name.
References
- Gebauer, J. E., Riketta, M., Broemer, P., & Maio, G. R. (2008). “How much do you like your name?” An implicit measure of global self-esteem. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1346–1354.
- Howard, D.J., & Kerin, R.A. (2011). The effects of name similarity on message processing and persuasion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 63-71.
- Howard, D.J., & Kerin, R.A. (2013). A surname brand effect explanation for consumer brand preference and advocacy. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 22, 362 – 370.
- Pelham, B. W., Mirenberg, M. C., & Jones, J. T. (2002). Why Susie sells seashells by the seashore: Implicit egotism and major life decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 469-487.
- Koole, S.L., Dijksterhuis, A., & van Knippenberg, A. (2001). What’s in a name: Implicit self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 614-627.
