Uppercase Premium Effect: The Role of Brand Letter Case in Brand Premiumness

Yining Yu, Xinyue Zhou, Lei Wang and Qiuzhen Wang

Journal of Retailing, 2022, vol. 98, issue 2, 335-355

Abstract: Researchers have recently begun investigating how visual elements affect brand positioning. However, little is known about the effect of brand typeface features on brand premiumness. This paper proposes and verifies that letter case affects consumers’ perceived brand premiumness. Eight experiments, including one eye-tracking experiment, reveal that consumers perceive brands that use all uppercase letters (“uppercase brands”) as more premium than those that use all lowercase letters (“lowercase brands”). We refer to this effect as the “uppercase premium effect.” This effect is induced by the perceived conspicuousness of uppercase brands, a process which in turn is moderated by the product's social visibility. The effect is reversed for consumers who prefer subtle signals (“inconspicuous consumers”) because these consumers are likely to perceive a conspicuous uppercase brand as gaudy. Whereas status-motivated consumers are more likely to choose uppercase brands due to the increased premiumness perceptions, the increment in such perceptions does not further influence the purchase decisions of consumers indifferent to expressing status. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications and offer suggestions for further research.

Keywords: Letter case; Brand premiumness; Brand positioning; Eye-tracking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jouret:v:98:y:2022:i:2:p:335-355

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2021.03.002

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