ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on brand names' linguistic attributes, such as differences in name types, and their rich array of inherent perceptual features, such as case, color, size, fonts, and so forth. It offers a brief background on the neuropsychological status of proper names and brand names. The chapter reports some research results. Finally, there is a discussion of the implications of the results for marketing and psycholinguistics. More subtle differences between processing proper names and common nouns can be found in studies investigating orthographic representation, such as those on the role of word shape in reading. A brand name's references are narrower than those of common nouns but wider than those of personal names. Furthermore, brand names have prominent emotional and graphic representations that are central to their meanings. Two intriguing features of the visual representation of brand names is the dazzling variety of graphical designs used and the zealous consistency with which most brands are represented.
