An alphanumeric brand name is a
brand name
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...
composed only of letters and numbers (
alphanumericals). Examples include
7 Up,
Saks Fifth Avenue,
Audi A4
The Audi A4 is a line of luxury compact executive cars produced from 1994 to 2025 by the German car manufacturer Audi, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. The A4 has been built in five generations and is based on the Volkswagen Group B platfor ...
,
Canon A75.
They may serve as abbreviations (e.g.
3M, formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company), indicate model extensions (
iPhone 3G
The iPhone 3G is a smartphone developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, second generation of iPhone, successor to the IPhone (1st generation), original iPhone, and was introduced on June 9, 2008, at the WWDC#2008, W ...
,
iPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the iPhone 4s. Following a number of notable leaks, ...
, etc.), symbolize physical product attributes (the V-shaped
V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
Origins
The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...
), incorporate technical attributes (
AMD32 chips use
32-bit
In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in a maximum of 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform la ...
processors), refer to inventory codes or internal design numbers (e.g.,
Levi's 501).
Overview
Kunter Gunasti and William T. Ross (2010) define two dimensions of alphanumeric brand names: "link", or the connection between the brand name and a specific product feature or the product as a whole; and "alignability", or whether the preferences for a product can be aligned with the numbers included in the brand names in an ascending or descending trend.
[
Selcan Kara, Gunasti and Ross (2015) delineated the number and letter components of alphanumeric brands and observed that for new brand extensions firms can either change the letters or numbers of their parent brand names. Altering the number components of brand names (e.g. Audi A3 vs. A4 vs. A6 vs. A8) led to more favorable consumer reactions compared to changing the letter components (e.g. Mercedes C350 vs. E350 vs. S350).
Gunasti and Timucin Ozcan (2016) further categorized alphanumeric brand names as either "round" or "non-round". They showed that use of " round numbers" in brand names is pervasive because this practice increases the tendency of consumers to perceive products as more complete (including all necessary attributes). For example, labeling an identical product with an "S200" brand (round number) as opposed to an "S198" or "S203" brand can make consumers believe that the product is superior and more well-rounded. They also found that the presence of competitor alphanumeric brand name (e.g. ]Garmin
Garmin Ltd. is an American multinational technology company based in Olathe, Kansas. The company designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes GPS-enabled products and other navigation, communication, sensor-based, and information ...
370) can affect consumer choices among the focal brand (e.g. TomTom 350 vs. TomTom 360). Gunasti and Berna Devezer (2016) observed that this effect occurs only for competing firms' products.
References
Brands
Identifiers
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