It’s Not Just a Brand Name: the Impact of Language on
Consumer Attitude and Behavior
Ernest Cyril de Run
Teh Chin Yee
Muhammad Khalique
Abstract
This paper investigates the impact of language choice in
a brand name on consumer’s response. This was measured
based on three different language based brand names in
the same product category (coffee). The brand names were
Aik Cheong, Kopimas, and Power Root, representing
Chinese, Malay, and English language respectively.
Speech Accommodation Theory (SAT) is used as the basis
for this paper as it indicates that a group prefers its
own language and will respond positively. Data was
collected from Chinese respondents throughout Malaysia
using a survey. Questions were from past measurement
scales utilizing a 6 point forced scale. The findings
indicate that respondents preferred English and Chinese
language brand name over Malay language brand name and
there was no difference in response for English and
Chinese language brand name. Malay language was the
least preferred. This paper is limited by the method,
breath and scope of data collection.
JEL. Classification: D10; M10; M37; Q11;
Keywords: Brand name, Language, Chinese, Malaysia
