Spiky sounds sparkling: How voiceless consonants present in the brand name of a beverage are more appropriate in conveying its carbonation strength

Abstract

Research suggests that speech sounds within a brand name can influence taste expectations of a product (e.g., voiceless consonants are often linked to sour tastes). Though carbonated beverages are sold across all markets in the world, to date, linkages between the brand names and their carbonation expectation yet remains unexplored. This research investigates how specific speech sounds contained within a brand name can enhance the carbonation perception of a beverage. Across three studies, we demonstrate that hypothetical brand names (or pseudo words) containing voiceless consonants (p, k, t, f) are more associated with carbonated beverages and spikiness, compared to voiced consonants (b, d, g, v), which are more associated with still water and roundedness. In the fourth study, we examine the coexisting role/effect of the orthographic and phonemic angularity of individual consonants (and phonemic sounds) and confirm that voiceless (vs. voiced) consonants (and phonemic sounds) are more associated with spikiness (vs. roundedness). Our findings add to the growing body of literature linking sound symbolism, taste expectations and cross-modal correspondences.