The Long and Short of It: A Warmth‐Based Explanation of the Effects of Brand Name Length on Brand Equity

ABSTRACT Despite a consensus that shorter (vs. longer) brand names positively influence consumer mindset metrics, the mechanisms driving this influence remain unclear, as does the effect of brand name length on brands' financial performance. This article helps fill these literature gaps. Drawing on four focal experiments, a follow‐up experiment, and two data sets covering 7775 real brands, the authors propose and demonstrate that shorter (vs. longer) brand names convey stronger impressions of warmth, which lead to higher brand equity, reflected in more favorable brand evaluations and stronger purchase intentions. Shorter names are also associated with more funds raised through crowdfunding. These effects emerge across various industries (e.g., clothing, food), product types (e.g., hedonic, utilitarian), brand types (e.g., unfamiliar, established), brand name types (e.g., meaningful, meaningless), and languages that use Latin or non‐Latin scripts (e.g., English, Amharic). The findings further clarify that shorter names are not necessarily more fluent; thus, ease of processing cannot always account for the positive effects of shorter brand names. The findings also show no empirical support for several additional alternative explanations, such as perceived name memorability and distinctiveness. In addition to advancing understanding of brand name length effects, this article provides guidance for crafting effective brand names.